The Stoic's Grander Portion

Stoic and Hedonist
by Archibald Lampman

The cup of knowledge emptied to its lees,
Soft dreamers in a perfumed atmosphere,
Ye turn, and from your luminous reveries
Follow with curious eyes and biting sneer
Yon grave-eyed men, to whom alone are sweet
Strength and self-rule, who move with stately tread,
And reck not if the earth beneath your feet
With bitter herb or blossoming rose be spread.
Ye smile and frown, and yet for all your art,
Supple and shining as the ringed snake,
And all your knowledge, all your grace of heart,
Is there not one thing missing from your make
The thing that is life's acme, and its key
The stoic's grander portion Dignity.