Anger in its time and place May assume a kind of grace. It must have some reason in it, And not last beyond a minute. If to further lengths it go, It does into malice grow. 'Tis the difference that we see 'Twixt the serpent and the bee. If the latter you provoke, It inflicts a hasty stroke, Puts you to some little pain, But it never stings again. Close in tufted bush or brake Lurks the poison-swelled snake Nursing up his cherished wrath; In the purlieus of his path, In the cold, or in the warm, Mean him good, or mean him harm, Wheresoever fate may bring you, The vile snake will always sting you. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DESERT FLOWERS by KEITH CASTELLAINE DOUGLAS UPON THE NIPPLES OF JULIA'S BREAST by ROBERT HERRICK TO DEATH OF HIS LADY by FRANCOIS VILLON NORTHERN EARTH MOOD by WILLIAM HERVEY ALLEN JR. A THREAD OF HAIR by CHRISTOPHER BANNISTER HE WONDERS WHETHER TO PRAISE OR TO BLAME HER by RUPERT BROOKE EBB TIDE AT NOON by FRANK GELETT BURGESS GLIMPSES OF CHILDHOOD: 4. EARLY LOVES by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |