WHAT man may learn, what man may do, Of right or wrong of false or true, While, skipper-like, his course he steers Through nine and twenty mingled years, Half misconceived and half forgot, So much I know and practise not.
Old are the words of wisdom, old The counsels of the wise and bold:
To close the ears, to check the tongue, To keep the pining spirit young;To act the right, to say the true, And to be kind whate'er you do.
Thus we across the modern stage Follow the wise of every age;And, as oaks grow and rivers run Unchanged in the unchanging sun, So the eternal march of man Goes forth on an eternal plan.