Learned Hand

Young Billings Learned Hand was born upstate,
in Albany New York. A name renowned.
His father passed, so law became his fate.
To meet the man's success young Hand was bound.

He made few friends at Harvard learning law.
Regretful, anxious man: an ego small.
He met his bride, and though his heart did thaw,
His one true love was work. Restraint in all.

A judge in south New York. He found his fight.
Appellate Court, and then Supreme his aim.
His politics enraged both left and right.
A speech in Central Park brought lifelong fame.

A brilliant mind in times that needed care,
to balance liberty in law's cold glare.