DEEP-VERSED IN BOOKS AND SHALLOW IN HIMSELF

Many books,

Wise men have said, are wearisome; who reads

Incessantly, and to his reading brings not

A spirit and judgement, equal or superior,

(And what he brings, what needs he elsewhere seek?)

Uncertain and unsettled still remains,

Deep-versed in books, and shallow in himself;

Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys

And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge;

As children gathering pebbles on the shore.

The Book-Lovers' Anthology · 第 334 / 714 题