 | Jones Very : The Complete Poems |  |
The Common School
The School-house next they build, a structure small,Near to the Meeting House, upon the green;
A noble structure built, like that, for all,
Noble, though in appearance rough, and mean;
But judge not by the sight, the purpose scan;
An angel guest oft comes in lowly guise;
And, on some narrow scale, the mightiest plan
Works unperceived, at first, by human eyes:
Here all the young were taught to read and write,
The rich, and poor the same great boon enjoyed;
So long withheld in Superstition's night,
Who would the mind's fair Temple have destroyed;
And those, who sought to instruct, and bless mankind,
Within her dungeons' rayless depths confined.
Poem No. 555; c. 1878–80
| Jones Very : The Complete Poems | |