Another Coptic Song

Go! — but heed and understand
This my last and best command:
Turn thine Youth to such advantage
As that no reverse shall daunt Age.
Learn the serpent's wisdom early;
And contemn what Time destroys;
Also, wouldst thou creep or climb,
Chuse thy r61e, and chuse in time,
Since the scales of Fortune rarely
Shew a liberal equipoise.
Thou must either soar or stoop,
Fall or triumph, stand or droop;
Thou must either serve or govern,
Must be slave, or must he sovereign;
Must, in fine, he Mock or wedge,
Must he anvil or he sledge.