Classic Poem

Three words of significant import I name,
And lips to each other impart;
From no indiscriminate sources they came,
But their origin have in the heart.
And unless these words form part of his creed,
Man is a pitiful creature indeed.

Man was created, and man is,free,
No matter if born in chains:
Let the cry of the rabble pass over thee,
And the howl of extravagant swains!
Of no free man stand thou in fear,
Nor of slave who has conquered a free career.

AndVirtueis more than an echoing call,
For it serves man day by day,
And though he may blunder and stumble and fall,
He can aim at the virtuous way,
And what from the wiseacre oft is concealed
Is as oft to the soul of the simple revealed.

And aGodthere is, whose will compels
The wavering mind of men,
And thought of the loftiest order swells
Beyond time's wildest ken.
Though the world in eternal vicissitude roll,
There is ever repose for the peaceable soul.

Preserve these three great words that I name,
One lip to another impart,
Though not from extraneous sources they came,
But their origin have in the heart.
So long as these words form part of his creed,
Man is a creature of worth indeed.