Beareth all things. I Cor. xiii, 7 GENTLY I took that which ungently came, And without scorn forgave: -- Do thou the same. A wrong done to thee think a cat's-eye spark Thou wouldst not see, were not thine own heart dark. Thine own keen sense of wrong that thirsts for sin, Fear that -- the spark self-kindled from within, Which blown upon will blind thee with its glare, Or smothered stifle thee with noisome air. Clap on the extinguisher, pull up the blinds, And soon the ventilated spirit finds Its natural daylight. If a foe have kenned, Or worse than foe, an alienated friend, A rib of dry rot in thy ship's stout side, Think it God's message, and in humble pride With heart of oak replace it; -- thine the gains -- Give him the rotten timber for his pains! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BOATMAN OF KINSALE by THOMAS OSBORNE DAVIS ON A GIFT OF FLOWERS by GUILLAUME VICTOR EMILE AUGIER THE ISLAND OF THE SCOTS by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN EDITHA by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS INLAND SEA by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN TIME'S CHANGES, FR. THE ART OF POLITICS by JAMES BRAMSTON A SWEET PASTORAL by NICHOLAS BRETON |