The Poetry of Real Life A New Edition, Much Enlarged and Improved. By Henry Ellison |
[“Thou art no better than thy fellow men] |
The Poetry of Real Life | ||
129
[“Thou art no better than thy fellow men]
Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.
“Thou art no better than thy fellow men,
Yet would'st instruct them in the way to go!”
'Tis true I am not—but may I not show
The path, as does a signpost, even when
I follow not myself? if but some ten,
Nay one, the true path to Man's greatness so
Finds out, and puts in act what I but know,
Still as a signpost thou may'st thank my pen—
I am no better than the least: but yet,
After my kind, and in my poor degree,
I labour to repay the common debt,
Which all men owe unto Humanitie;
And, if my song from that root grow, its plea
Will hold good, and men store by it will set!
The Poetry of Real Life | ||