Classic Poem

His thoughts—the truest features of the man—
Above all else deserve to be recorded:
Nothing in history more living than
A thought when deftly worded.

The words are to the thought its earthly frame:
They die in time, and then we deem it ended:
But, like the immortal spirit whence it came,
The lost has but ascended.

Thoughts do not die. Some pass to realms of glory
At once, as from the flower the odour flows;
While some live seal'd in words from ages hoary—
The ottar of the rose

And so, according to the strong completeness
Of that expression, their earth-life prolongs:
And some have grown, thro' its surpassing sweetness,
Almost time-during songs.