⁠Demands, abasements, penalties—
The imperishable plinth of things
⁠Seen and unseen, that touch our peace.

For, though ensnaring ritual dim
⁠His vision through the after-years,
Yet virtue shall go out of him:
⁠Example profiting his peers.

With great things charged he shall not hold
⁠Aloof till great occasion rise,
But serve, full-harnessed, as of old
⁠The days that are the destinies.

He shall forswear and put away
⁠The idols of his sheltered house;
And to Necessity shall pay
⁠Unflinching tribute of his vows.

He shall not plead another's act,
⁠Nor bind him in another's oath
To weigh the Word above the Fact,
⁠Or make or take excuse for sloth.