LIFE
CXXI
I WORKED for chaff, and earning wheat
Was haughty and betrayed.
What right had fields to arbitrate
In matters ratified?
Was haughty and betrayed.
What right had fields to arbitrate
In matters ratified?
I tasted wheat,—and hated chaff,
And thanked the ample friend;
Wisdom is more becoming viewed
At distance than at hand.
And thanked the ample friend;
Wisdom is more becoming viewed
At distance than at hand.
CXXII
LIFE, and Death, and Giants
Such as these, are still.
Minor apparatus, hopper of the mill,
Beetle at the candle,
Or a fife’s small fame,
Maintain by accident
That they proclaim.
Such as these, are still.
Minor apparatus, hopper of the mill,
Beetle at the candle,
Or a fife’s small fame,
Maintain by accident
That they proclaim.
CXXIII
OUR lives are Swiss,—
So still, so cool,
Till, some odd afternoon,
The Alps neglect their curtains,
And we look farther on.
So still, so cool,
Till, some odd afternoon,
The Alps neglect their curtains,
And we look farther on.
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