THE TRUE MAN.
He is a man whom noble qualities
Environ as his birth-right; who wears virtue
Even as he would a breast-plate, easily,
And yet close to his heart; whom honour fences
As with a priceless crown—with modest pride;
Who ever lifts a reverent eye above,
And bends a humble knee; whom victory
Over the world's conflicting forms of sin
Makes not presumptuous,but pitiful
To those who in that fiery trial sink;
He is a man who in his inmost soul
Keeps visions of his God glorious and pure,
And then reflection casts on human things;
Who never walks alone, but in communion
With what is bright and holy—listening still
The calm sweet voices of the inward guide.
He is a man who fears no foe but sin,
And meets the clashing evils of his fate,
And of this mystic life, with brow serene;
Who analyzes human destiny,
And finds in all its threads a providence;
Who worships nature second but to God,
And casts himself into the beautiful,
The spiritual forms of God's benevolence,
Even with a rapturous faith, a sateless joy;
Whose heart from youth to age its freshness keeps,
Watered by dews, and fed by suns divine.
Environ as his birth-right; who wears virtue
Even as he would a breast-plate, easily,
And yet close to his heart; whom honour fences
As with a priceless crown—with modest pride;
Who ever lifts a reverent eye above,
And bends a humble knee; whom victory
Over the world's conflicting forms of sin
Makes not presumptuous,but pitiful
To those who in that fiery trial sink;
He is a man who in his inmost soul
Keeps visions of his God glorious and pure,
And then reflection casts on human things;
Who never walks alone, but in communion
With what is bright and holy—listening still
The calm sweet voices of the inward guide.
He is a man who fears no foe but sin,
And meets the clashing evils of his fate,
And of this mystic life, with brow serene;
Who analyzes human destiny,
And finds in all its threads a providence;
Who worships nature second but to God,
And casts himself into the beautiful,
The spiritual forms of God's benevolence,
Even with a rapturous faith, a sateless joy;
Whose heart from youth to age its freshness keeps,
Watered by dews, and fed by suns divine.