Three things make earth unquiet <br />And four she cannot brook <br />The godly Agur counted them <br />And put them in a book -- <br />Those Four Tremendous Curses <br />With which mankind is cursed; <br />But a Servant when He Reigneth <br />Old Agur entered first. <br />An Handmaid that is Mistress <br />We need not call upon. <br />A Fool when he is full of Meat <br />Will fall asleep anon. <br />An Odious Woman Married <br />May bear a babe and mend; <br />But a Servant when He Reigneth <br />Is Confusion to the end. <br /> <br />His feet are swift to tumult, <br />His hands are slow to toil, <br />His ears are deaf to reason, <br />His lips are loud in broil. <br />He knows no use for power <br />Except to show his might. <br />He gives no heed to judgment <br />Unless it prove him right. <br /> <br />Because he served a master <br />Before his Kingship came, <br />And hid in all disaster <br />Behind his master's name, <br />So, when his Folly opens <br />The unnecessary hells, <br />A Servant when He Reigneth <br />Throws the blame on some one else. <br /> <br />His vows are lightly spoken, <br />His faith is hard to bind, <br />His trust is easy boken, <br />He fears his fellow-kind. <br />The nearest mob will move him <br />To break the pledge he gave -- <br />Oh, a Servant when he Reigneth <br />Is more than ever slave!<br /><br />Rudyard Kipling<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-servant-when-he-reigneth/
