Prudence

THEME no poet gladly sung,

Fair to old and foul to young;

Scorn not thou the love of parts,

And the articles of arts.

Grandeur of the perfect sphere

Thanks the atoms that cohere.

What right have I to write on Prudence, whereof I have Little, and that of the negative sort? My prudence consists in avoiding and going without, not in the inventing of means and methods, not in adroit steering, not in gentle repairing. I have no skill to make money spend well, no genius in my economy, and whoever sees my garden discovers that I must have some other garden.