PRESERVED BY MACROBIUS. <br /> <br /> <br />WHAT! no way left to shun th' inglorious stage, <br />And save from infamy my sinking age! <br />Scarce half alive, oppress'd with many a year, <br />What in the name of dotage drives me here? <br />A time there was, when glory was my guide, <br />Nor force nor fraud could turn my steps aside; <br />Unaw'd by pow'r, and unappall'd by fear, <br />With honest thrift I held my honour dear; <br />But this vile hour disperses all my store, <br />And all my hoard of honour is no more. <br />For ah! too partial to my life's decline, <br />Caesar persuades, submission must be mine; <br />Him I obey, whom heaven itself obeys, <br />Hopeless of pleasing, yet inclin'd to please. <br />Here then at once, I welcome every shame, <br />And cancel at threescore a life of fame; <br />No more my titles shall my children tell, <br />The old buffoon will fit my name as well; <br />This day beyond its term my fate extends, <br />For life is ended when our honour ends.<br /><br />Oliver Goldsmith<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-poet-laberius/
