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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A SPENDTHRIFT by EDWARD GEORGE EARLE LYTTON BULWER-LYTTON

First Line: YOU HAVE OUTRUN YOUR FORTUNE
Last Line: MINUS ONE CROWN, TWO LIARDS!
Subject(s): SPENDTHRIFTS;

You have outrun your fortune;
I blame you not, that you would be a beggar;
Each to his taste! But I do charge you, sir,
That, being beggar'd, you would coin false moneys
Out of that crucible call'd DEBT. To live
On means not yours; be brave in silks and laces,
Gallant in steeds, splendid in banquets; all
Not @3yours@1, ungiven, uninherited, unpaid for;
@3This@1 is to be a trickster, and to filch
Men's art and labour which to them is wealth,
Life, daily bread; quitting all scores with, "Friend,
You're troublesome!" Why this, forgive me,
Is what, when done with a less dainty grace,
Plain folks call "@3Theft!@1" You own eight thousand pistoles,
Minus one crown, two liards!



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