Classic Poem

The smallest type of manhood that lives,
(If manhood it may be called,)
Is that which knows no power but wealth
That is measured in stocks and gold;
It looks in disdain on a working man
Who declines to bend his knee,
Though in honor's scales he may outweigh
The scorner, in great degree.

There's a wealth that far surpasses all
The houses and stocks and gold,
That ever was on the market placed,
To be by a hireling sold;
'Tis the wealth of manhood, noble, free,
And an independent mind
That scorns to swerve from justice and truth,
But faithfully serves mankind.