Poems (Hornblower)/The True Man
THE TRUE MAN.
He is a man whom noble qualitiesEnviron as his birth-right; who wears virtueEven as he would a breast-plate, easily,And yet close to his heart; whom honour fencesAs with a priceless crown—with modest pride;Who ever lifts a reverent eye above,And bends a humble knee; whom victoryOver the world's conflicting forms of sinMakes not presumptuous,but pitifulTo those who in that fiery trial sink;He is a man who in his inmost soulKeeps visions of his God glorious and pure,And then reflection casts on human things;Who never walks alone, but in communionWith what is bright and holy—listening stillThe calm sweet voices of the inward guide.He is a man who fears no foe but sin,And meets the clashing evils of his fate,And of this mystic life, with brow serene; Who analyzes human destiny,And finds in all its threads a providence;Who worships nature second but to God,And casts himself into the beautiful,The spiritual forms of God's benevolence,Even with a rapturous faith, a sateless joy;Whose heart from youth to age its freshness keeps,Watered by dews, and fed by suns divine.