Social Commentaries
What men gain fairly
From Poems of 1819
Social Commentaries
What men gain fairly—that they should possess,
And children may inherit idleness,
From him who earns it—This is understood;
Private injustice may be general good.
But he who gains by base and armed wrong,
Or guilty fraud, or base compliances,
May be despoiled; even as a stolen dress
Is stripped from a convicted thief; and he
Left in the nakedness of infamy.
Cite this poem
MLA
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “What men gain fairly.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/shelley/38/.
Chicago
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “What men gain fairly.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/shelley/38/.
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