Not So Wise

I'm not so sure as I used to be

That I am so very wise.

When I was just twenty-two or three

I'd a brain of a mammoth size.

I knew 'most all that there was to know,

And carried a bulging brow,

But I've found that a lot of it was just not so,

And I'm not so learned now.

I'm not so sure that I'm always right,

As I used to be back then.

I'm not so keen, as I was, to slight

The wisdom of other men.

Oh, I used to think that I knew it all

And got into many a row,

But I've found that most of my brain was gall

And I'm not so learned now.

I'm not so sure that I know what's what,

And I'm no so quick to sneer,

For I've found of wisdom there is a lot

That isn't exactly clear.

And many things that I thought I knew

I've had to unlearn, somehow;

And I'm sometimes puzzled just what to do

For I'm not so learned now.

By Edgar A. Guest