Explore "On Seeing a Young Nobleman Imprisoned for Debt" by James Parkerson on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The victim of sorrow with gloom on his mind, / Sighs for those pleasures he late left behind; / The bottle, the play-house, card-room and ball, / And the fine guilded chariot kept at the hall; / Enjoy'd but at night in dreams mix'd with sorrow, / That leaves the imprudent as hopeless to morrow.
With anguish he views his now alter'd state, / Laments his past folly but finds it too late; / His bottle companions in assistance will fail, / Soon as they hear he is plac'd in a jail: / Fair economy's rules he brings to his view, / Determines in future her plans to pursue; / The downfal of life, oft the delicate kill, / By a strong dose of adversity's pill; / Neglected in prison, yields up his life, / And leaves in despair his children and wife; / Oblig'd to return to her father's once more, / Endeavours again her peace to restore; / Grief so harress'd once a heart blith and gay, / Death soon appear'd and took her quick away.