The great Lord.
Reading edition
A very great lord lives near Thomas’s cot,
Who servants, and coaches, and horses has got;
And yet his poor neighbour Tom envies him not.
For coaches and horses, and delicate food,
Can’t make people happy, unless they are good!
But then he is idle, and wicked, and rude.
He never does any thing all the day long,
Altho’ he is able, and healthy, and strong:
At least, nothing right, but he often does wrong.
And then he’s as vain as he ever can be,
He wears gaudy clothes, that poor people may see,
And laughs at good folks, who are better than he.
And, tho’ he’s so rich, and so great, and so high,
He does no more good than a worm or a fly;
And no one would miss him, if he were to die.
I think ’tis much better, for all that I see,
A poor honest ploughman, like Thomas, to be,
Than a fine wealthy lord, but as useless as he.