The various writings of Cornelius Mathews | ||
VII.
THE MERCHANT.
Who gathers income in the narrow street,
Or, climbing, reaps it from the roughening sea—
His anchor Truth should fix—should fill his flowing sheet,
His weapon, helm and staff the Truth should be.
Wrought out with lies each rafter of thine house,
Black with the falsehood every thread thou wearest—
A subtle ruin, sudden overthrow,
For all thy household's fortune thou preparest.
Or, climbing, reaps it from the roughening sea—
His anchor Truth should fix—should fill his flowing sheet,
His weapon, helm and staff the Truth should be.
Wrought out with lies each rafter of thine house,
Black with the falsehood every thread thou wearest—
A subtle ruin, sudden overthrow,
For all thy household's fortune thou preparest.
Undimmed the man should through the trader shine,
And show the soul unbabied by his craft:
Slight duties may not lessen but adorn,
The cedar's berries round the cedar's shaft.
The pettiest act will lift the doer up,
The mightiest cast him swift and headlong down;
If one forget the spirit of his deed,
The other wears it as a living crown.
And show the soul unbabied by his craft:
Slight duties may not lessen but adorn,
The cedar's berries round the cedar's shaft.
The pettiest act will lift the doer up,
The mightiest cast him swift and headlong down;
If one forget the spirit of his deed,
The other wears it as a living crown.
A grace, be sure, in all true duty dwells;
Humble or high, you always know it thus,
For beautiful in act, the foregone thought
Confirms its truth though seeming-ominous.
Pure hands and just, may therefore, well be laid
On duties daily as the air we breathe;
And Heaven amid the thorns of harshest Trade
The laurel of its gentlest love may wreathe.
Humble or high, you always know it thus,
For beautiful in act, the foregone thought
Confirms its truth though seeming-ominous.
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On duties daily as the air we breathe;
And Heaven amid the thorns of harshest Trade
The laurel of its gentlest love may wreathe.
The various writings of Cornelius Mathews | ||