What we all feel.

АH! Life, so purposeless yet steep'd in self,

I do confess thee, yea I do condemn thee, So pack'd with pleasure, or so plann'd for pelf, I do denounce thee, yea I do contemn thee.

Ah! Life, so changeful, yet so dull and tame,

I dread and doubt thee, while I must despise thee,

So lotteried, and still so blank the same,

I wait and hope, despairing while I prize thee.

Ah! Life,-be better; yet thou hast no crime

Thus to abjure, for still thy will is worthy; Only thou weepest for the flight of time,

And that thou art too useless and too earthy.

Ah! Life,-enduringly I watch and wait; Winter is patient, till the day be lengthen'd, And well-ripe fruit, delay'd but not too late,

Comes of a root by frosty sorrow strengthen'd.

y generous birth

hough it fashions men)

the wealth of earth,

II.

Poverty retains it oft,

With the peasant it hath dwelt,

And its influence sweet and soft
In the scholarless been felt;

Lowly birth, and sorrow's power,
All that want of all things ean,

Have not marr'd-nor made one hour

That true knight, the Gentleman.

III.

Charity,-unselfish zeal

Lest a sorrow or a shame

Any one be made to feel

Undeserving scorn or blame,—

Dignity, the generous sense

That himself is heir outright

To that heritage immense,

King and priest of worlds of light,—

IV.

Lowliness of heart withal,—

Purity of word and lifeCourage, not for arms to call

But to quell insurgent strife,—

Honour, for the good and true

With Bayard to guard the van,—

And what Courtesies are due,

These make up the Gentleman.

V.

Ay, Sir calm and cold and proud,
Trust me, for the word is true,

There are thousands in the crowd

Finer gentlemen than you;

More, for all your courtly birth

And each boon by fortune given,

Know that gentlemen of earth

Are always gentle sons of heaven.