Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied;
Speech, thought's canal! speech, thought's criterion too!
Thought in the mine may come forth gold or dross;
When coin'd in words, we know its real worth:
If sterling, store it for thy future use;
'Twill buy thee benefit, perhaps renown:
Thought too, deliver'd, is the more possess'd;

* Teaching, we learn; and giving, we retain
The births of intellect; when dumb, forgot.

Speech ventilates our intellectual fire;
Speech burnishes our mental magazine;
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use.
What numbers, sheath'd in erudition, lie
Plunged to the hilts in venerable tomes,
And rusted; who might have borne an edge,
And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speech!

If born blest heirs to half their mother's tongue !

'Tis thought's exchange, which, like th' alternate push
Of waves conflicting, breaks the learned scum,
And defecates the student's standing pool.

In contemplation is his proud resource ?

'Tis poor as proud: by converse unsustain'd

Rude thought runs wild in contemplation's field :

Converse, the menage, breaks it to the bit
Of due restraint; and emulation's spur

Gives graceful energy, by rivals awed :

'Tis converse qualifies for solitude,
As exercise for salutary rest:

By that untutor'd, contemplation raves ;

And nature's fool, by wisdom's is outdone.

1113

35

Had thought been all, sweet speech had been denied;
Speech, thought's canal! speech, thought's criterion too!
Thought in the mine may come forth gold or dross;
When coin'd in words, we know its real worth:
If sterling, store it for thy future use;
'Twill buy thee benefit, perhaps renown:
Thought too, deliver'd, is the more possess'd;
Teaching, we learn; and giving, we retain
The births of intellect; when dumb, forgot.
Speech ventilates our intellectual fire;
Speech burnishes our mental magazine;
Brightens for ornament, and whets for use.
What numbers, sheath'd in erudition, lie
Plunged to the hilts in venerable tomes,
And rusted; who might have borne an edge,
And play'd a sprightly beam, if born to speech!
If born blest heirs to half their mother's tongue!
'Tis thought's exchange, which, like th' alternate push
Of waves conflicting, breaks the learned scum,
And defecates the student's standing pool.

In contemplation is his proud resource ?
'Tis poor as proud : by converse unsustain'd
Rude thought runs wild in contemplation's field :
Converse, the menage, breaks it to the bit
Of due restraint; and emulation's spur
Gives graceful energy, by rivals awed :
'Tis converse qualifies for solitude,
As exercise for salutary rest :
By that untutor'd, contemplation raves ;
And nature's fool, by wisdom's is outdone.

P.O. 1297 B1978.43.1395 Obj. 2321 -0001

apCARD 101

97L

50L

20L

(These charts are for monitor calibration only)

Yale Center for British Art, 2010