MAN'S NATURAL RULERS
How few there are with natures whole and sound,
In harmony with themselves and fortune too,
Whose outlook no contracted limits bound,
And ever wisdom's forthright path pursue:
Such are the sans and stars of humankind,
The natural kings and rulers of the earth,
If men were not to truth and wisdom blind,
And could distinguish worthlessness from worth:
For it is part of life's strange tragedy
That men (who must some bolder spirits follow)
So seldom know who their true leaders be,
And choose instead some idol false and hollow:
So is it nations into ruin run,
By want of noble counsellors undone.
In harmony with themselves and fortune too,
Whose outlook no contracted limits bound,
And ever wisdom's forthright path pursue:
Such are the sans and stars of humankind,
The natural kings and rulers of the earth,
If men were not to truth and wisdom blind,
And could distinguish worthlessness from worth:
For it is part of life's strange tragedy
That men (who must some bolder spirits follow)
So seldom know who their true leaders be,
And choose instead some idol false and hollow:
So is it nations into ruin run,
By want of noble counsellors undone.