TWENTY-THREE

A Riddle

Lo! Here I stand with double face,

My name exalted in high place;

A creature, symbol or a crown,

Identifies me round the town.

I see below me all mankind:

In search of comfort of a liquid kind,

While some give out that I entice

To lust, and luxury, and dice,

And diverse oaths on me inflict,

Because they find their pockets picked.

Though I’m a comforter to many lives

’Tis said I steal health, wealth and wives.