 | Stones from The Quarry |  |
103
SELF-RELIANCE.
Fret not thy soul at trifles; to do soWere greater wrong far than what causes it.
'Tis as with owls and bats that in dusk flit:
Disperse them, and their true proportions show
In Reason's daylight; brooded o'er, they throw
Their shadows far beyond themselves;—as, lit
By waning suns, we in the shadows sit
Of distant mountains—thus, Far Near doth grow.
Think not what others think of thee; for 'tis
Not thee, but their idea of thee they think:
Their glass distorts, and shows its own amiss.
Dare to be thine ownself, and let fools wink
And sneer: of thine own substance is thy bliss;
Not shadow, with their thoughts to stretch and shrink.
| Stones from The Quarry | |