To a Boy Do not waste your time But serve some noble end; The basketmaker breaks The spray that will not bend. Open your mind in youth And let all learning in For words the head has not shaped Are worthless, out and in. Words not salted with sense, Where judgment has no part 7? Are only a puppy’s yelp Nearer the lips than the heart. So let all learning in; Be pure in mind and breast For the voice that speaks to the heart Pleases the Master best. Source: O'Connor, Frank (tr); Kings, Lords, & Commons: An Anthology from the Irish; 1962; London; Macmillan & Co; p.80