Better we all were in our graves,
Than live in slavery to slaves;
Worse than the anarchy at sea,
Where fishes on each other prey;
Where every trout can make as high rants
O'er his inferiors, as our tyrants;
And swagger while the coast is clear:
But should a lordly pike appear,
Away you see the varlet scud,
Or hide his coward snout in mud.
Thus, if a gudgeon meet a roach,
He dares not venture to approach;
Yet still has impudence to rise,
And, like Domitian,[2] leap at flies.
On A Printer's[1] Being Sent To Newgate
Jonathan Swift
(1)
Poem topics: away, sea, venture, rise, clear, hide, high, live, approach, I love you, I miss you, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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