Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. Princes and lords may flourish or may fade, A breath can make them, as a breath has made;1 But a bold peasantry, their countrys pride, When once destroyd, can never be supplied.
Cest un verre qui luit, Quun souffle peut détruire, et quun souffle a produit (It is a shining glass, which a breath may destroy, and which a breath has produced).De Caux (comparing the world to his hour-glass). [back]