Classic Poem

How may a man become a sage
When countless sights appear—
Villages that demand an age
And towns that claim a year?

A hill studied a century
Leaves man an ignoramus;
There's hidden wisdom in a tree
To make a senate famous.

The swiftest journey will display
To new philosophies
Doors fifty. One life wins a way
Hardly through one of these.

A rock upon a mountain-side,
A road to an old house
A young man singing to his bride,
An owl that hunts a mouse;

These lie in every nook of land:
Alas, that only once
Man has his life to understand
And still remain a dunce.