Sentence:  All this is undoubtedly compatible with mediocrity, like every other profession; one can also be a <WSD>middling</WSD> poet, a <WSD>middling</WSD> orator, a <WSD>middling</WSD> author; but this done with genius is sublime. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Of intermediate or average size, position, or quality; mediocre.