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James Russell Lowell - The Nobly Born
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    Who counts himself as nobly born
      Is noble in despite of place;
    And honors are but brands to one
      Who wears them not with nature`s grace.

    The prince may sit with clown or churl
      Nor feel himself disgraced thereby;
    But he who has but small esteem
      Husbands that little carefully.

    Then, be thou peasant, be thou peer,
      Count it still more thou art thine own.
    Stand on a larger heraldry
      Than that of nation or of zone.

    Art thou not bid to knightly halls?
      Those halls have missed a courtly guest:
    That mansion is not privileged
      Which is not open to the best.

    Give honor due when custom asks,
      Nor wrangle for this lesser claim;
    It is not to be destitute
      To have the thing without the name.

    Then, dost thou come of gentle blood,
      Disgrace not thy good company;
    If lowly born, so bear thyself
      That gentle blood may come of thee.

    Strive not with pain to scale the height
      Of some fair garden`s petty wall;
    But climb the open mountain side
      Whose summit rises over all.


    And, for success, I ask no more than this:
    To bear unflinching witness to the truth.
    All true whole men succeed; for what is worth
    Success`s name unless it be the thought,
    The inward surety, to have carried out
    A noble purpose to a noble end,
    Although it be the gallows or the block?
    `Tis only Falsehood that doth ever need
    These outward shows of gain to bolster her.
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