Read the poem: “Jeffries Wyman”

by James Russell Lowell

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American Literature – American Poetry – James Russell Lowell
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Jeffries Wyman

DIED SEPTEMBER 4, 1874

The wisest man could ask no more of Fate
Than to be simple, modest, manly, true,
Safe from the Many, honored by the Few;
To count as naught in World, or Church, or State,
But, inwardly in secret to be great;
To feel mysterious Nature ever new;
To touch, if not to grasp, her endless clue,
And learn by each discovery how to wait.
He widened knowledge and escaped the praise;
He wisely taught, because more wise to learn;
He toiled for Science, not to draw men’s gaze,
But for her lore of self-denial stern.
That such a man could spring from our decays
Fans the soul’s nobler faith until it burn.

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Joseph Winlock > > >

American Literature – American Poetry – James Russell Lowell

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by James Russell Lowell

Jeffries Wyman

DIED SEPTEMBER 4, 1874

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