Wisdom's Mother Tongue
Donald P. Goodman III
Version 1.0,
For twice a thousand years, we've search'd the depths and sky,
explor'd the deepest mesh of roots of knowing's tree,
and plumb'd the great abyss, and climb'd the mountains high,
and mov'd from what's before us to what none can see;
and giants upon giants on their shoulders stand,
e'er seeing ever more than those who came before;
and joining that to what we learn'd from th' Holy Land,
we ever more into our quest for knowledge pour.
And all this golden treasure of these countless souls
is daily taught to us; and yet we hear no more;
the ship of wisdom's wreck'd on dumbness' rocky shoals,
and from these endless riches we depart, still poor.
For all the greatest songs that man has ever sung
are writ in Latin, holy wisdom's mother tongue.