QUIET WORK

ONE LESSON, Nature, let me learn from thee,
One lesson which in every wind is blown,
One less of two duties kept at one,
Through the loud world proclaim their enmity-
Of toil un-severed from tranquility;
Of labor, that in lasting fruit outgrows.
Far noisier schemes, accomplished in repose,
Too great for haste, too high for rivalry.

Yes, while on earth a thousand discords ring,
Man's fitful uproar mingling with his toil,
Still working, blaming still our vain turmoil;
Laborers that shall not fail, when *humanity is gone.
MATTHEW ARNOLD.