ALAS! what boots the long laborious quest Of moral prudence, sought through good and ill; Or pains abstruse -- to elevate the will, And lead us on to that transcendent rest Where every passion shall the sway attest Of Reason, seated on her sovereign hill; What is it but a vain and curious skill, If sapient Germany must lie deprest, Beneath the brutal sword? -- Her haughty Schools Shall blush; and may not we with sorrow say -- A few strong instincts and a few plain rules, Among the herdsmen of the Alps, have wrought More for mankind at this unhappy day Then all the pride of intellect and thought? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LITTLE BLACK-EYED REBEL by WILLIAM MCKENDREE CARLETON A MORE ANCIENT MARINER by BLISS CARMAN THE KNIGHT'S TOMB by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE CROTALUS by FRANCIS BRET HARTE MONT BLANC; LINES WRITTEN IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY |