 | Interludes and Undertones, or, Music at Twilight |  |
45
XXXVII. VANITY OF VANITIES.
“What is it to be wise?
'Tis but to know how little can be known.”
Pope.
'Tis but to know how little can be known.”
Pope.
A Poor, poor fellow, a very good fellow,
Went maundering by the sea,
Gazing at times to the starry heaven,
At times to the wild waves free.
And said to himself, wise-looking,
“I'd know the eternal plan;
I'd solve the riddle of fortune,
The meaning of God and man.”
Went maundering by the sea,
Gazing at times to the starry heaven,
At times to the wild waves free.
And said to himself, wise-looking,
“I'd know the eternal plan;
I'd solve the riddle of fortune,
The meaning of God and man.”
And a voice came out of the darkness,
Out, perchance, from his soul—
“Thou fool! wouldst ladle the ocean
Into the rim of a bowl?
Wouldst make thine eye the circle
Of all that the worlds contain,
Or gather the stars in a chalice
No bigger than thy brain?”
Out, perchance, from his soul—
“Thou fool! wouldst ladle the ocean
Into the rim of a bowl?
Wouldst make thine eye the circle
Of all that the worlds contain,
Or gather the stars in a chalice
No bigger than thy brain?”
46
Out of the dark came brightness,
And a second voice replied—
“Forgive me, oh, forgive me,
My arrogance and pride!
Wisdom is born of folly,
And folly from wisdom grows;
And he is wiser than wisdom
Who knows how little he knows!”
And a second voice replied—
“Forgive me, oh, forgive me,
My arrogance and pride!
Wisdom is born of folly,
And folly from wisdom grows;
And he is wiser than wisdom
Who knows how little he knows!”
| Interludes and Undertones, or, Music at Twilight | |