Robert Browning

Better have failed in the high aim, as I,
Than vulgarly in the low aim succeed
As, read more

Better have failed in the high aim, as I,
Than vulgarly in the low aim succeed
As, God be thanked! I do not.

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, read more

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it;
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundreds soon hit:
His high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.

Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought.

Stung by the splendour of a sudden thought.

This could but have happened once,
And we missed it, lost it forever.

This could but have happened once,
And we missed it, lost it forever.

Her voice changed like a bird's:
There grew more of the music, and less of the words.

Her voice changed like a bird's:
There grew more of the music, and less of the words.