EVER since the time when I was a lusty boy Down till now when I am ill and old, The things I have cared for have been different at different times, But my being @3busy,@1 @3that@1 has never changed. @3Then@1 on the shore, -- building sand-pagodas; @3Now@1, at Court, covered with tinkling jade. This and that, -- equally childish games, Things whose substance passes in a moment of time! While the hands are busy, the heart cannot understand; When there are no Scriptures, then Doctrine is sound. Even should one zealously strive to learn the Way, That very striving will make one's error more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPRING ON BROADWAY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER RUPERT BROOKE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON ON HEARING OF INTENTION .. TO PURCHASE THE POET'S FREEDOM by GEORGE MOSES HORTON THE HONEYSUCKLE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI A VOICE PROPHETIC by WALT WHITMAN THE WORLD; SONNET by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH TIPPERARY: 3. AS THE INTERLINEARS MIGHT TAKE IT FROM XENOPHON by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |