LEAVE we the pedants to quarrel and strive,Rigid and cautious the teachers to be!
All of the wisest men e'er seen aliveSmile, nod, and join in the chorus with me:
"Vain 'tis to wait till the dolt grows less silly!
Play then the fool with the fool, willy-nilly,--Children of wisdom,--remember the word!"
Merlin the old, from his glittering grave, When I, a stripling, once spoke to him,--gaveJust the same answer as that I've preferr'd;"Vain 'tis to wait till the dolt grows less silly!
Play then the fool with the fool, willy-nilly,--Children of wisdom,--remember the word!"
And on the Indian breeze as it booms, And in the depths of Egyptian tombs,Only the same holy saying I've heard:
"Vain 'tis to wait till the dolt grows less silly!
Play then the fool with the fool, willy-nilly,--Children of wisdom,--remember the word!"
1789.*
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