James Russell Lowell - Jeffries Wyman lyrics

The wisest man could ask no more of Fate Than to be simple, modest, manly, true, Safe from the Many, honoured by the Few; To count as naught in World, or Church, or State, But inwardly in secret to be great; To feel mysterious Nature ever new; To touch, if not to grasp, her endless clue, And learn by each discovery how to wait. He widened knowledge and escaped the praise; He wisely taught, because more wise to learn; He toiled for science, not to draw men's gaze, But for her lore of self-denial stern. That such a man could spring from our decay Fans the soul's nobler faith until it burn.