But for this, I say, And but for selfish getting of the land, And beggarly entailing it, we two, Today well fed, well grown, well dressed, well read, We might have been two horny-handed boors,— Lean, clumsy, ignorant, and ragged boors,— Planning for moonlight nights a poaching scheme, Or soiling our dull souls and consciences With plans for pilfering a cottage roost.

—Jean Ingelow, “Brothers and a Sermon.”