A man I knew who lived upon a smile, And well it fed him; he look'd plump and fair, While rankest venom foam'd through every vein.
There buds the promise of celestial worth.
Inhumanity is caught from man, From smiling man.
Who combats with a brother, wounds himself.
At thirty, man suspects himself a fool; Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan.
Sense is our helmet, wit is but the plume; The plume exposes, 'tis our helmet saves. Sense is the diamond, weighty, solid, sound; When cut by wit, it casts a brighter beam; Yet, wit apart, it is a diamond still.