Though fast youth's glorious fable flies,
View not the world with worldling's eyes;
Nor turn with weather of the time.
Foreclose the coming of surprise:
Stand where Posterity shall stand;
Stand where the Ancients stood before,
And, dipping in lone founts thy hand,
Drink of the never-varying lore:
Wise once, and wise thence evermore.
More verses by Herman Melville
- The March To The Sea
- The Fortitude Of The North
- Stonewall Jackson (Ascribed To A Virginian)
- Marlena
- The Age Of The Antonines