I'll put it another way that will perhaps make more sense: it takes perserverance to believe that this time, when you turn on the LHC, you'll find the Higgs boson, despite not finding it all the previous times. Or this combination of drugs will stop that virus, when 200 other combinations haven't. Or this variant of this crop will be resistant to a particular disease, when all the previous crops succumbed. I think there are days when it takes more than a love of science to overcome the wearying effect of negative results. Some might call that faith. I'm not calling it religious faith, mind you, but a kind of faith (although I happen to know that the person who wrote that poem is a person of faith, in addition to not being a scientist).

As a teacher, I have to agree that science education standards (in the U.S., which is mostly what I can speak for - I taught in a French school but never experienced the science curriculum) are lacking. Perhaps the implementation of the Common Core standards will help us create thoughtful, innovative, dedicated scientists again.