Words are deeds. The words we hear May revolutionize or rear A mighty state. The words we read May be a spiritual deed Excelling any fleshly one, As much as the celestial sun Transcends a bonfire, made to thro A light upon some raree-show. A simple proverb tagged with rhyme, May colour half the course of time; The pregnant saying of a sage May influence every coming age; A song in its effects may be More glorious than Thermopylae, And many a lay that schoolboys scan A nobler feat than Inkerman. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A HYMN [TO THE NAME AND] IN HONOR OF SAINT TERESA by RICHARD CRASHAW ODE TO ETHIOPIA by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE BOYS by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES MIANTOWONA by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH COMPANY COMMANDER by GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE |