Conservatism and Progress

Conservatism and ProgressOld Zephyr, dawdling in the West,Looked down upon the sea,Which slept unfretted at his feet,And balanced on its breast a fleetThat seemed almost to beSuspended in the middle air,As if a magnet held it there,Eternally at rest.Then, one by one, the ships releasedTheir folded sails, and stroveAgainst the empty calm to pressNorth, South, or West, or East,In vain; the subtle nothingnessWas impotent to move.Ten Zephyr laughed aloud to see:—“No vessel moves except by me,And, heigh—ho! I shall sleep.”But lo! from out the troubled NorthA tempest strode impatient forth,And trampled white the deep;The sloping ships flew glad away,Laving their heated sides in spray.The West then turned him red with wrath,And to the North he shouted:“Hold there! How dare you cross my path,As now you are about it?”The North replied with laboured breath—His speed no moment slowing:—“My friend, you’ll never have a path,Unless you take to blowing.”

Old Zephyr, dawdling in the West,Looked down upon the sea,Which slept unfretted at his feet,And balanced on its breast a fleetThat seemed almost to beSuspended in the middle air,As if a magnet held it there,Eternally at rest.Then, one by one, the ships releasedTheir folded sails, and stroveAgainst the empty calm to pressNorth, South, or West, or East,In vain; the subtle nothingnessWas impotent to move.Ten Zephyr laughed aloud to see:—“No vessel moves except by me,And, heigh—ho! I shall sleep.”But lo! from out the troubled NorthA tempest strode impatient forth,And trampled white the deep;The sloping ships flew glad away,Laving their heated sides in spray.The West then turned him red with wrath,And to the North he shouted:“Hold there! How dare you cross my path,As now you are about it?”The North replied with laboured breath—His speed no moment slowing:—“My friend, you’ll never have a path,Unless you take to blowing.”

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