To The Ant
She placed at every turn that led
To her abode, a sign which read,
“Go to the Ant,” and hung beside
Her picture, highly magnified.
To her abode, a sign which read,
“Go to the Ant,” and hung beside
Her picture, highly magnified.
Said she, “At least that cannot fail
To bring a Turtle, Sloth, or Snail,
A Dormouse, or a Boy, to learn
Their livelihood (and mine) to earn!
To bring a Turtle, Sloth, or Snail,
A Dormouse, or a Boy, to learn
Their livelihood (and mine) to earn!
“I’ll teach them, first of all, to see
The joyousness of industry;
And they, to grasp my meaning more,
Shall gather in my winter store.
The joyousness of industry;
And they, to grasp my meaning more,
Shall gather in my winter store.
“The Beauty of Abstemiousness
I’ll next endeavor to impress
Upon their minds at meals. (N. B.
That is—if they should board with me.)
I’ll next endeavor to impress
Upon their minds at meals. (N. B.
That is—if they should board with me.)
“Then Architecture they shall try
(My present house is far from dry)—
In short, all Honest Toil I’ll teach
(And they shall practise what I preach).”
(My present house is far from dry)—
In short, all Honest Toil I’ll teach
(And they shall practise what I preach).”
Alas, for castles in the air!—
There’s no delusion anywhere
Quite so delusive as, I fear,
Is a professional career.
There’s no delusion anywhere
Quite so delusive as, I fear,
Is a professional career.
So thought the ant last time we met.
She only has one sluggard yet,
Who scantly fills her larder shelf—
It is, I grieve to say, herself!
She only has one sluggard yet,
Who scantly fills her larder shelf—
It is, I grieve to say, herself!