As treasures that men seek, <br />Deep buried in sea-sands, <br />Vanish if they but speak, <br />And elude their eager hands, <br /> <br />So ye escape and slip, <br />O songs, and fade away, <br />When the word is on my lip <br />To interpret what ye say. <br /> <br />Were it not better, then, <br />To let the treasures rest <br />Hid from the eyes of men, <br />Locked in their iron chest? <br /> <br />I have but marked the place, <br />But half the secret told, <br />That, following this slight trace, <br />Others may find the gold.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/in-the-harbour-prelude/
