“ALAS! WHAT BOOTS THE LONG LABORIOUS QUEST”
ALAS! what boots the long laborious quest Of moral prudence, sought through good and ill; Or pains abstruse–to elevate the will, And lead us on to that transcendent rest Where every passion shall the sway attest Of Reason, seated on her sovereign hill; What is it but a vain and curious skill, If sapient Germany must lie deprest, Beneath the brutal sword?–Her haughty Schools Shall blush; and may not we with sorrow say– 10 A few strong instincts and a few plain rules, Among the herdsmen of the Alps, have wrought More for mankind at this unhappy day Then all the pride of intellect and thought? 1809.