But words and thoughts should of themselves outwell
From inner fulness; chest and heart should swell
To give them birth. Better be dumb a week
Than idly prattle; better in leisure sleek
Lie fallow-minded, than a brain compel
To wasting plenty that hath yielded well,
Or strive to crop a soil too thin and bleak.
One true thought, from the deepest heart upspringing,
May from within a whole life fertilize;
One true word, like the lightning sudden gleaming,