Loading...
en
English Español Français Italiano

James Kenneth Stephen

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.

#EnglishWriters

Other works by James Kenneth Stephen...
A Parodist’s Apology

If I’ve dared laugh at you, Rober… ’Tis with eyes that with you have… You have oftener left me smiling o… Than any beside, one bard except. But once you spoke to me, storm-to…
The Malefactor’s Plea

Of sentences that stir my bile, Of phrases I detest, There’s one beyond all others vile… “He did it for the best.” Of course he did: I don’t suppose…
A Sonnet (Two Voices Are There)

Two voices are there: one is of th… It learns the storm-cloud’s thunde… Now roars, now murmurs with the ch… Now bird-like pipes, now closes so… And one is of an old half-witted s…
My Education

At school I sometimes read a book… And learned a lot of lessons; Some small amount of pains I took… And showed much acquiescence In what my masters said, good men!
The Ballade of the Incompetent Ballade-Monger

I am not ambitious at all: I am not a poet, I know (Though I do love to see a mere s… To order and symmetry grow). My muse is uncertain and slow,
Of F.W.H.M. to One That Smokes

Spare us the hint of slightest des… Spotless preserve us an untainted… Not for thy sake, oh goddess of cr… Not for thy sake, oh woman, but fo…
 1
Wordsworth

Two voices are there: one is of th… It learns the storm cloud’s thunde… Now roars, now murmurs with the ch… Now birdlike pipes, now closes sof… And one is of an old half-witted s…
Men and Women

1. IN THE BACKS. As I was strolling lonely in the… I met a woman whom I did not like… I did not like the way the woman w… Loose-hipped, big-boned, disjointe…
Drinking Song

There are people, I know, to be f… Who say, and apparently think, That sorrow and care may be drowne… By a timely consumption of drink. Does not man, these enthusiasts as…
To R. K.

As long I dwell on some stupendou… And tremendous (Heaven defend us!… Monstr’-inform’-ingens-horrendous Demoniaco-seraphic Penman’s latest piece of graphic.
A Sonnet

Two voices are there: one is of th… It learns the storm-cloud’s thunde… Now roars, now murmurs with the ch… Now bird-like pipes, now closes so… And one is of an old half-witted s…
The Last Ride Together (After Browning)

(From Her Point of View) When I had firmly answered 'No’, And he allowed that that was so, I really thought I should be free For good and all from Mr B.,
The Old School List

In a wild moraine of forgotten boo… On the glacier of years gone by, As I plied my rake for order’s sa… There was one that caught my eye: And I sat by the shelf till I los…
England and America

1. ON A RHINE STEAMER. Republic of the West, Enlightened, free, sublime, Unquestionably best Production of our time.
After the Golden Wedding (Three Soliloquies)

I. The husband’s. She’s not a faultless woman; no! She’s not an angel in disguise: She has her rivals here below: She’s not an unexampled prize:



Top