Saturday, January 18, 2014
Cherish Quietness
George Augustus Simcox (1841-1905), "To Aristocrats," Poems and Romances (London: Strahan and Co., 1869), p. 269:
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When the dumb many lift their voice on high,
Who do not heed what subtle things are said
In ancient volumes they have never read,
Nor care to listen till the wise reply,
Let all who care to hurry pass thee by,
And bid them all Godspeed and bow the head,
And sit alone and commune with the dead,
And learn at leisure to be still and die.
Why, for thy pride, should men be comfortless?
Wherefore methinks it were not well to wage
An idle warfare with a busy age;
But fold clean hands and cherish quietness,
And watch the world grow more while we grow less,
And others build our tomb or hermitage.
