Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay;
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made:
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied.
Authentication Score 3
Citation
Goldsmith, Oliver. The Deserted Village. London: W. Griffin, 1770, l. 51.