George Frederick Cameron (1854-1885). True Greatness. William Wilfred Campbell, comp. 1913. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse

William Wilfred Campbell, comp. The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse. 1913.

True Greatness

By George Frederick Cameron (1854–1885)


WHAT is true greatness? Is ’t to climb
Above the rocks and shoals of time
To sculpture on some height sublime
A name
To live immortal in its prime	5
And flush of fame?

What is true greatness? Is ’t to lead
Your armèd hirelings on to bleed,
And move a terrible god, indeed,
An hour;	10
To sate your lust of gold, or greed
Of despot power?

What is true greatness? Question not,
But go to yon secluded spot
And enter yonder humble cot	15
And find
A husbandman who never fought
Or wronged his kind:

For whom the lips of war are dumb:
Who loves far more than beat of drum	20
The cattle’s low, the insect’s hum
In air:
And find true greatness in its sum
And total there!

What is true Greatness? ’Tis to clear	25
From sorrow’s eye the glistening tear:
To comfort there, to cherish here,
To bless:
To aid, encourage, and to cheer
Distress.	30