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Poem
May 13, 1823
Alexandria Gazette & Advertiser
Alexandria, Virginia
What is this article about?
The poem warns those who abandon virtue and religion for worldly approval and false honors, urging them to reflect on the afterlife where divine judgment outweighs the world's laughter.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
From the Petersburg Intelligencer.
"THE WORLD'S DREAD LAUGH."
Oh! ye that tremble with misguided shame,
And shrink from virtue lest the proud should blame,
Forsake your God, renounce religion's cause,
For empty honors and a false applause;
Ye coward race, who like the pliant tools
Of impious fashions, and deceiving fools—
Oh! ponder yet—invoke your fellow slaves
Now slumbering silent in their narrow graves
And bid them tell you in that awful hour,
When faded life, and fame, and pomp, and power,
When burst the spirit from each earthly bound,
And sped to judgment, which that spirit found,
There best to see, if man would be forgiven,
The World's dread laughter, or the frown of Heaven?
"THE WORLD'S DREAD LAUGH."
Oh! ye that tremble with misguided shame,
And shrink from virtue lest the proud should blame,
Forsake your God, renounce religion's cause,
For empty honors and a false applause;
Ye coward race, who like the pliant tools
Of impious fashions, and deceiving fools—
Oh! ponder yet—invoke your fellow slaves
Now slumbering silent in their narrow graves
And bid them tell you in that awful hour,
When faded life, and fame, and pomp, and power,
When burst the spirit from each earthly bound,
And sped to judgment, which that spirit found,
There best to see, if man would be forgiven,
The World's dread laughter, or the frown of Heaven?
What sub-type of article is it?
Satire
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Religious Faith
Satire Society
What keywords are associated?
Misguided Shame
Forsake God
False Applause
Afterlife Judgment
Worlds Laugh
What entities or persons were involved?
From The Petersburg Intelligencer.
Poem Details
Title
"The World's Dread Laugh."
Author
From The Petersburg Intelligencer.
Key Lines
There Best To See, If Man Would Be Forgiven,
The World's Dread Laughter, Or The Frown Of Heaven?