James Kenneth Stephen Poems >>
The Philosopher and the Philanthropist

  Searching an infinite Where,
 Probing a bottomless When,
  Dreamfully wandering,
  Ceaselessly pondering,
 What is the Wherefore of men:
 Bartering life for a There,
 Selling his soul for a Then,
  Baffling obscurity,
  Conning futurity,
 Usefulest, wisest of men!
 Grasping the Present of Life,
 Seizing a definite Now,
 Labouring thornfully,
 Banishing scornfully
 Doubts of his Whither and How:
 Spending his substance in Strife,
 Working a practical How,
 Letting obscurity
 Rest on futurity,
 Usefuler, wiser, I trow.