TIME makes us eagle-eyed: Our fantasies befriend us in our youth, And build the shadowy tents wherein we hide Out of the glare of truth. Make no haste to despise The proud of spirit: ofttimes pride but is An armor worn to shield from insolent eyes Our human weaknesses. Be slow to blame his course Or name him coward who disdains to fight: Courage is just a blind impelling force, And often wrong as right. Condemn not her whose hours Are not all given to spinning nor to care: Has not God planted every path with flowers Whose end is to be fair? Think not that he is cold Who runneth not your proffered hand to touch: On feeling's heights 't is wise the step to hold From trembling overmuch; And though its household sweets Affection may through daily channels give, The heart is chary, and ecstatic beats Once only while we live. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SYNCOPATED CAKEWALK by CLARENCE MAJOR EPITAPH: FOR A VIRGIN LADY by COUNTEE CULLEN FREEDOM AND LOVE by THOMAS CAMPBELL THE FAIREST THING IN MORTAL EYES by CHARLES D'ORLEANS AN ELEGIE, OR FRIENDS PASSION, FOR HIS ASTROPHILL by MATTHEW ROYDEN SONNET: 97 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |