 | The silver bridge and other poems |  |
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DIVES AND THE ANGEL.
An angel came to Dives as he slept,
A Presence with severe and searching glance,
Who stooped and questioned him. “How have you kept
The promise of your rich inheritance?
A Presence with severe and searching glance,
Who stooped and questioned him. “How have you kept
The promise of your rich inheritance?
“How is it that you still join field to field,
And house to house, and make your treasure more,
While want and misery remain unhealed,
And wretched children beg from door to door?
And house to house, and make your treasure more,
While want and misery remain unhealed,
And wretched children beg from door to door?
“While pallid women, finer-souled than you,
Drudge weary year on year for scantiest wage,
No hope before them, all the long days through,
But toil in youth and beggary in age?
Drudge weary year on year for scantiest wage,
No hope before them, all the long days through,
But toil in youth and beggary in age?
“Has Heaven, which dowered you as its almoner,
Found you a faithful servant, just and true?
How many hearts, with gratitude astir,
Are happier to-day because of you?”
Found you a faithful servant, just and true?
How many hearts, with gratitude astir,
Are happier to-day because of you?”
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“Hear, Lord!” replied the rich man, “I implore!
I know my wealth is only shining dust;
I turn no homeless beggar from my door
Without a cup of water and a crust.
I know my wealth is only shining dust;
I turn no homeless beggar from my door
Without a cup of water and a crust.
“To bring the heathen to thy feet more near,
My name is foremost, and my aid is sure,
And my discarded garments, year by year,
Console the shivering shoulders of thy poor.”
My name is foremost, and my aid is sure,
And my discarded garments, year by year,
Console the shivering shoulders of thy poor.”
“Unfaithful steward! false and self-confessed,
Who hope to win the favor of the skies
By grasping and enjoying all the best,
And giving only what you do not prize!
Who hope to win the favor of the skies
By grasping and enjoying all the best,
And giving only what you do not prize!
“You make a virtue of your selfishness
And hold the joy of giving poor and cheap,
By offering to another's sore distress
That which you do not want and would not keep!
And hold the joy of giving poor and cheap,
By offering to another's sore distress
That which you do not want and would not keep!
“The work-girl who divides her scanty store
With one more poor, is princelier far than you—
A penny from her slender purse is more
Than thousands from your bounteous revenue.
With one more poor, is princelier far than you—
A penny from her slender purse is more
Than thousands from your bounteous revenue.
“Your fortunate fingers hold the golden keys
Which make it a delight and joy to live;
The jewelled gates of luxury and ease
Swing wide, and yield you all that life can give.
Which make it a delight and joy to live;
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Swing wide, and yield you all that life can give.
“You dwell within a palace grand and proud,
Fair as though conjured by a wizard's spell,
While others wander shelterless, or crowd
In wretched huts where beasts would scorn to dwell.
Fair as though conjured by a wizard's spell,
While others wander shelterless, or crowd
In wretched huts where beasts would scorn to dwell.
“You clothe yourself in raiment rich and fine,
And toss your brother garments coarse and old;
You give the water, and withhold the wine,
Divide the copper, and retain the gold.
And toss your brother garments coarse and old;
You give the water, and withhold the wine,
Divide the copper, and retain the gold.
“Is it because you earn reward and praise
By purer heart and life, and nobler deeds,
That you walk daintily life's lilied ways,
While he goes stumbling in its thorns and weeds?
By purer heart and life, and nobler deeds,
That you walk daintily life's lilied ways,
While he goes stumbling in its thorns and weeds?
“What is it that you fling the poor a crust
While you fare delicately every day?
What is it that you give because you must
And still live on in wealth because you may?
While you fare delicately every day?
What is it that you give because you must
And still live on in wealth because you may?
“Then, when at last Death's chill compelling clutch
Has pinched your grasping fingers numb and cold,
You try to gain the praise you crave so much
By scattering what you cannot longer hold.
Has pinched your grasping fingers numb and cold,
You try to gain the praise you crave so much
By scattering what you cannot longer hold.
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“The selfish worm within the apple's core,
Which revels all his life in fruit or flower,
Who thanks him, that when he can eat no more
He leaves behind what he could not devour?
Which revels all his life in fruit or flower,
Who thanks him, that when he can eat no more
He leaves behind what he could not devour?
“Is it your virtue, then, that you forsake
The precious gold of which you are so fond?
You leave it only that you cannot take
A credit-letter on the world beyond.
The precious gold of which you are so fond?
You leave it only that you cannot take
A credit-letter on the world beyond.
“Beware! for noting all your narrow greeds,
An eye which cannot err and does not sleep
Will scan, as measure of your generous deeds,
Not only what you give—but what you keep!”
An eye which cannot err and does not sleep
Will scan, as measure of your generous deeds,
Not only what you give—but what you keep!”
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