Classic Poem

How many men, who liv'd to bless mankind,
Have died unthank'd! Far-teaching and self-taught,
They did what learning scorns to learn or teach;
Their deeds are portion of the general thought;
Their thoughts have pass'd into the common speech,
And labour's wages; yet they left behind
Nor name, nor record! save the good which grew
Out of the sacrifice that gives and saves.
Lo, what a tree is rising from their graves,
To shelter, ev'n on earth, the wise and true!
Then, worship not fam'd words, which, like the winds,
Or Homer's song, seem things that cannot die,
And ever liv'd: they are but names of minds
Whose good or evil speaks immortally.