FAREWELL TO A MODEST
SCHOLAR

by William Herbert Carruth

WITHOUT ado, as he has done 
          His work among us, he'll be 

gone. 

The rulers will not realize 
That they have lost a priceless prize. 
Serenely they will meet the case 
And talk of filling Canfield's place; 
Who know him, know such hope is vain; 
    Wise, patient, clear, judicious, fair, 
    The artist temper, fine and rare^__
We shall not see his like again. 
 
He had not learned to sound the trump
Of his own merits, nor could pump 
Praise from his students, quid pro quo; 
He did not keep a press bureau. 
He never slapped the powers that be 
In jovial jest upon the knee. 
He minded his own business, which 
He understood to be^__to teach;
Impartially to gem and clod 
He taught as in the fear of God. 
 
He taught as in the fear of God;
The toilsome, patient way he trod, 
Knowing that what is built to stay 
Is never builded in a day; 
That conscience in the teacher's ways 
More teaches than her loudest praise 
From such as follow wandering lights 
Of gain, world's plaudits, rank, and 

spites; 

That scholarship and character 
Worth more than show and trappings 

are. 
 

He had no cabinets to show
Of Nature's wonders set a-row, 
The output of his annual pains, 
He merely worked in human brains; 
Dealt in the deathless thoughts of men^__
His tool the inconspicuous pen. 
His has the thankless office been 
To represent the things unseen. 
Without ado, as he has done 
His work among us, he '11 be gone.