When power was at its flood and hope was high, And far bright places shimmered in his gaze He left the heights and chose the lowly ways. Perhaps a backward glance, a close-clipped sigh... He stooped to us and laid his own work by. No honest striving lacked his ardent praise; No groping blunderer too low to raise. An eagle, teaching tamer birds to fly! "For I have labored somewhat in my time, He might have said, "nor been profusely paid." Urging the weak, the small toward the sublime, Richly content to fan a kindling spark. Who shall compute the sacrifice he made? Signing away his fame -- A Man: His Mark. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO THE LAPLAND LONGSPUR by JOHN BURROUGHS SANTORIN (A LEGEND OF THE AEGEAN) by JAMES ELROY FLECKER THE DAYS GONE BY by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 30 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI TO THE MEMORY OF THOMAS HOOD by BARTHOLOMEW SIMMONS THE POET'S SHIELD by ARCHILOCHUS A SONNET. THE ROSE AND LILY by PHILIP AYRES |