That scaffolding a vantage ground doth make Whereon the workman and his work may meet; But when the building stands at last complete— With copestone placed—the builder then will take The staging down; it stands for the sole sake Of being auxiliary, and so when all Its purpose has been served, why, let it fall; The work is done which he did undertake. Likewise, when human life with care we scan, What helps we see: Time, station, money, books; These, one and all, a purpose serve for man, They form a vantage ground from which he looks At life, and compasses its building vast— Which, stripped of mundane helps, stands forth at last. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PARIS IN SPRING by SARA TEASDALE JOHN PELHAM by JAMES RYDER RANDALL DOOMSDAY: TREASURES IN HEAVEN by WILLIAM ALEXANDER (1567-1640) AN ESSAY TOWARDS A CHARACTER OF HIS SACRED MAJESTY KING JAMES II by PHILIP AYRES THE SHOES THAT DANCED by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH |