Classic Poem

There are who, bending supple knees,
Live for no end except to please,
Rising to fame by mean degrees;
But creep not thou with these.

They have their due reward; they bend
Their lives to an unworthy end —
On empty aims the pains expend
Which had knit close a friend

But be not thou as these, whose mind
Is to the passing hour confined;
Let no ignoble fetters bind
Thy soul, as free as wind.

Stand upright, speak thy thought, declare
The truth thou hast that all may share;
Be bold, proclaim it everywhere:
They only live who dare.