Approaching a Candle
Attracted by the taper's rays,
How carelessly you come to gaze
On what absorbs you in its blaze!
O Fly! I bid you have a care:
You do not heed the danger near;
This light, to you a blazing star.
Already you have scorch'd your wings:
What courage, or what folly brings
You, hovering near such blazing things?
Ah me! you touch this little sun—
One circuit more and all is done!—
Now to the furnace you are gone!—
Thus folly with ambition join'd,
Attracts the insects of mankind,
And sways the superficial mind:
Thus, power has charms which all admire,
But dangerous is that central fire—
If you are wise in time retire.—