AT BEST

by: John Boyle O'Reilly (1844-1890)

      HE faithful helm commands the keel,
      From port to port fair breezes blow;
      But the ship must sail the convex sea,
      Nor may she straighter go.
       
      So, man to man; in fair accord,
      On thought and will the winds may wait;
      But the world will bend the passing word,
      Though its shortest course be straight.
       
      From soul to soul the shortest line
      At best will bended be:
      The ship that holds the straightest course
      Still sails the convex sea.

"At Best" is reprinted from The Little Book of American Poets: 1787-1900. Ed. Jessie B. Rittenhouse. Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1915.

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