Original artwork, not a still
Lowliness is young ambition's ladder, whereto the climber-upward turns his face; But when he once attains the upmost round, He then unto the ladder turns his back, Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Humility can serve as the ladder ambitious young people climb, facing it with attention while rising. Once they reach the top rung, they turn away from it, gaze skyward, and look down on the modest steps that lifted them. The speaker accuses ambition of forgetting its own humble beginnings.
Context reviewed
