Canto LII
How many a father have I seen,A sober man, among his boys,Whose youth was full of foolish noise,Who wears his manhood hale and green;
And dare we to this doctrine giveThat had the wild oat not been sown,The soil, left barren, had not grownThe grain by which a man may live?
Oh! if we held the doctrine soundFor life outliving heats of youth,Yet who would preach it as a truthTo those that eddy round and round?
Hold thou the good: define it well:For fear divine philosophyShould push beyond her mark, and beProcuress to the Lords of Hell.