To Sam Pepys, Esq

‘OPEN your mind! We’re friends!’ the fool exclaims;
Smiling, the man of wit conceals his aims.
Though gay and friendly, courteous and kind,
He lets no man suspect what’s in his mind;
Whets not the blade whose hilt another holds,
Leaves bragging on their conquests to cuckolds,
And worldly-wise, treats all the friends he knows
As men who may to-morrow be his foes.