What Man May Learn, What Man May Do

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



WHAT man may learn, what man may do,
Of right or wrong of false or true,
While, skipper-like, his course he steers
Through nine and twenty mingled years,
Half misconceived and half forgot,
So much I know and practise not.

Old are the words of wisdom, old
The counsels of the wise and bold:
To close the ears, to check the tongue,
To keep the pining spirit young;
To act the right, to say the true,
And to be kind whate'er you do.

Thus we across the modern stage
Follow the wise of every age;
And, as oaks grow and rivers run
Unchanged in the unchanging sun,
So the eternal march of man
Goes forth on an eternal plan.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
168

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCC DDEEAA FFGGHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 607
Words 121
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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    D Robert Louis Stevenson