And damned be he that first cries ‘Hold, enough’!”
Your high profession stands apart;
By years of toil you’ve learned the trick
(Like Pheidias with his plastic art)
Of slapping mortar on a brick;
Touched too the summit
Of science with your lore of line and plummet.
And none may join your sacred Guild,
Save only graduates (so to speak),
Experts with hod and trowel, skilled