Robert Browning

Why comes temptation but for man to meet
And master and make crouch beneath his foot,
And read more

Why comes temptation but for man to meet
And master and make crouch beneath his foot,
And so be pedestaled in triumph?

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, read more

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundreds soon hit:
His high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.

What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
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What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up,
And be discharged, and straight wound up anew?
No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets;
May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.

A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
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A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
And those who live as models for the mass
Are singly of more value than they all.

And gain is gain, however small.

And gain is gain, however small.