Social Commentaries
Riches
Social Commentaries
Have ye seen the caterpillar
Foully warking in his nest?
'T is the poor man getting siller,
Without cleanness, without rest.
Have ye seen the butterfly
In braw claithing drest?
'T is the poor man gotten rich,
In rings and painted vest.
The poor man crawls in web of rags
And sore bested with woes.
But when he flees on riches' wings,
He laugheth at his foes.
Cite this poem
MLA
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Riches.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/emerson/181/.
Chicago
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Riches.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/emerson/181/.
Read this poem with the Codex →