Explore "THE "ARS POETICA" OF HORACE -- XVIII. (Lines 323-333.)" by Eugene Field on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The Greeks had genius -- 'twas a gift / The Muse vouchsafed in glorious measure; / The boon of Fame they made their aim / And prized above all worldly treasure.
But _we_ -- how do we train _our_ youth? / _Not_ in the arts that are immortal, / But in the greed for gains that speed / From him who stands at Death's dark portal.
Ah, when this slavish love of gold / Once binds the soul in greasy fetters, / How prostrate lies -- how droops and dies / The great, the noble cause of letters!