Classic Poem

haud curat Hippoclides . E RASM , Adag .

T O those we love we've drank tonight;
But now attend and stare not,
While I the ampler list recite
Of those for whom W E CARE NOT .

For royal men, howe'er they frown,
If on their fronts they bear not
That noblest gem that decks a crown,
The People's Love — W E CARE NOT .

For slavish men who bend beneath
A despot yoke, yet dare not
Pronounce the will whose very breath
Would rend its links — W E CARE NOT .

For priestly men who covet sway
And wealth, tho' they declare not;
Who point, like finger-posts, the way
They never go — W E CARE NOT .

For martial men who on their sword,
Howe'er it conquers, wear not
The pledges of a soldier's word,
Redeemed and pure — W E CARE NOT .

For legal men who plead for wrong,
And, tho' to lies they swear not,
Are hardly better than the throng
Of those who do — W E CARE NOT .

For courtly men who feed upon
The land, like grubs, and spare not
The smallest leaf where they can sun
Their crawling limbs — W E CARE NOT .

For wealthy men who keep their mines
In darkness hid, and share not
The paltry ore with him who pines
In honest want — W E CARE NOT .

For prudent men who hold the power
Of Love aloof, and bare not
Their hearts in any guardless hour
To Beauty's shaft — W E CARE NOT .

For all, in short, on land or sea,
In camp or court, who are not,
Who never were , or e'er will be
Good men and true — W E CARE NOT .