“Give me the choice of wealth or fame,
“On ample purse; or noble name,
“One to accept and one refuse,
“And fame is not the one I’d choose.
“Once on a time I did despise,
“Wealth and its purchased vanities
“But since a Deacon I became,
“I do confess it, to my shame,

The poem starts off, “Alas! The turmoil’s of the poor, The friction of the labouring oar," basically saying "this is what it has come down to." The speaker in the poem is Deacon F___, which might obviously be Fenerty. Though Fenerty was not a Deacon, he might have thought himself one (since he was very involved with his church). Or, how better to ask for an opinion in man's dirty toil than a Deacon. The contrast between a religious person and the ethics of man reveal interesting questions. This might have been why Fenerty left; to face some demons.