TIME to me this truth hath taught, 'T is a truth that's worth revealing: More offend from want of thought Than from want of feeling. If advice we would convey, There's a time we should convey it; If we've but a word to say, There's a time in which to say it. Many a beauteous flower decays, Though we tend it e'er so much; Something secret on it preys, Which no human aid can touch. So in many a loving breast Lies some canker-grief concealed, That, if touched, is more oppressed, Left unto itself -- is healed! Oft, unknowingly, the tongue Touches on a chord so aching That a word or accent wrong Pains the heart almost to breaking. Many a tear of wounded pride, Many a fault of human blindness, Has been soothed or turned aside By a quiet voice of kindness. Time to me this truth hath taught, 'T is a truth that's worth revealing: More offend from want of thought Than from want of feeling. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LONELY BURIAL by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET MIDSUMMER BIRDS by ROBERT FROST RETROSPECT by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO NANNETTE FALK-AUERBACH by SIDNEY LANIER THE POET (2) by ISAAC ROSENBERG DINOSAUR NATIONAL by KAREN SWENSON |