He did not know how to love well,
but he loved as well as he knew.
And now not one can love so well,
Than he who did what he knew.
And plodding on to do, not think,
he learned a good deal more
Than he who plopping down to think
forgot to do any more.
I'd only one thing have you learn:
to do what you know to do.
Oh, my friend! the things you'd learn
if you'd do what you know to do!
7 comments:
i'm thinking of dropping the last stanza - don't want to think too much for the reader, especially when the meaning is already pretty clear - what do you think?
although, with the last stanza, it reminds me of an Aesop's Fable
no way! i love the rhyme and the rhythm! it reminds me of walt whitman.
Interesting structure! I like the repetition. I like the idea. Regarding the last stanza, I don't think it's redundant, so I'd leave it in.
Again, high-quotability rating with that last stanza. :)
My only revision recommendation would be this line: "I'd only one thing have you learn:"
but the structure obviously makes that hard...
"I'd only one thing have you learn" -> "I'd only have you one thing learn"?
It's just tough because you want to repeat Learn, but English doesn't use verbs at the end of the sentence (although I love the other languages that DO), so it's just going to sound unnatural to the English-ear no matter what, unless you change the repeated word...
complicated!
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