What men gain fairly -- that they should possess,
And children may inherit idleness,
From him who earns it—This is understood;
Private injustice may be general good.
But he who gains by base and armed wrong,
Or guilty fraud, or base compliances,
May be despoiled; even as a stolen dress
Is stripped from a convicted thief; and he
Left in the nakedness of infamy.
More verses by Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Song. To -- [harriet]
- Song. Cold, Cold Is The Blast When December Is Howling
- Epigram Iv: Circumstance
- I Stood Upon A Heaven-Cleaving Turret
- Fragment: There Is A Warm And Gentle Atmosphere