So you've a "quick" temper, lad, you say? You don't seem to mind it, anyway, Or you wouldn't admit it so jauntily; But what do you mean by it now, let's see? You lose it so easily, you say? Well, so does that knife I whetted today. It was cheap and its mettle is poor, that's why I can't keep it sharp, however I try. It's easy to nick, and softest wood Turns its edge. The thing's no good! If little annoyances ruffle you And big ones rile you through and through, If roughness turns your spirit rough, The mettle you're made of is soft—poor stuff. No use to dodge it or try to hedge; @2Tempered@1 mettle holds its edge! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OLD TRAILS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON DISASTER by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY THE BLUEBIRD by EMILY DICKINSON A LINE-STORM SONG by ROBERT FROST COMMEMORATION ODE READ AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL ODE FOR THE AMERICAN DEAD IN ASIA by THOMAS MCGRATH MODERN LOVE: 47 by GEORGE MEREDITH |