All folks who pretend to religion and grace, <br />Allow there's a HELL, but dispute of the place: <br />But, if HELL may by logical rules be defined <br />The place of the damned -I'll tell you my mind. <br />Wherever the damned do chiefly abound, <br />Most certainly there is HELL to be found: <br />Damned poets, damned critics, damned blockheads, damned knaves, <br />Damned senators bribed, damned prostitute slaves; <br />Damned lawyers and judges, damned lords and damned squires; <br />Damned spies and informers, damned friends and damned liars; <br />Damned villains, corrupted in every station; <br />Damned time-serving priests all over the nation; <br />And into the bargain I'll readily give you <br />Damned ignorant prelates, and counsellors privy. <br />Then let us no longer by parsons be flammed, <br />For we know by these marks the place of the damned: <br />And HELL to be sure is at Paris or Rome. <br />How happy for us that it is not at home!<br /><br />Jonathan Swift<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-place-of-the-damned-3/
