The scholar, in his book-lined study, sits, <br />walled in by printed thought in black and white; <br />silent; by a pool of lamplight lit; <br />now still in reading, or now drawn to write; <br /> <br />inaudible, the music of his mind, <br />invisible, that dazzling light, his thought; <br />unknown, the destiny of human kind; <br />unwrit, the future glories to be sought; <br /> <br />he like a human hour-glass: single grains <br />passing into future mind from past; <br />and in his presence, all Creation reigns, <br />the history of the world from first to last. <br /> <br />this secret glory, scholars are allowed; <br />so fragile; mortal; subtle; noble; proud.<br /><br />Michael Shepherd<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/0091-the-scholar-a-dutch-portrait/
