Page:Songs, Legends, and Ballads.djvu/24

12

HERE may be standard weight for precious metal,
 * But deeper meaning it must ever hold;

Thank God, there are some things no law can settle,
 * And one of these—the real worth of gold.

The stamp of king or crown has common power
 * To hold the traffic-value in control;

Our coarser senses note this worth—the lower;
 * The higher comes from senses of the soul.

This truth we find not in mere warehouse learning—
 * The value varies with the hands that hold;

The worth depends upon the mode of earning;
 * And this man's copper equals that man's gold.

With empty heart, and forehead lined with scheming.
 * Men's sin and sorrow have been that man's gain;