Bulwarks of Empire

BULWARKS OF EMPIRE

Good men are bulwarks; while the multitudes
Are walls that ring the land; great states are screens;
Each family a buttress; the pursuit
Of righteousness secures repose; like towers
Of strong defence the royal kinsmen stand
Immune from peril. May they still remain
Nor leave the king, a lonely citadel
Abandoned to his enemies.

Give heed
Unto the wrath of Heaven! nor presume
To idle; but revere the Heavenly moods,
Ephemeral though they seem. Be not of those
That roam at random. Heaven understands
And doth companion all the ways we go,
And seeth all things clearly…