Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature By Charles Mackay |
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| II. | No. II.—THE RIGHT TO DISDAIN. |
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 | Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature |  |
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No. II.—THE RIGHT TO DISDAIN.
How shall I gain
The right to disdain?
The right to look down
With a saint-like frown
Upon sorrow and sin?
How shall I win
The right to scorn
My brother forlorn,
Or pass him by
With reproving eye,
As much as to say,
“Get out of the way,
And taint me not
With the poison spot
That comes from thy heart, thy face, thy brow,
To me, much holier than thou?”
The right to disdain?
The right to look down
With a saint-like frown
Upon sorrow and sin?
How shall I win
The right to scorn
My brother forlorn,
Or pass him by
With reproving eye,
As much as to say,
“Get out of the way,
128
With the poison spot
That comes from thy heart, thy face, thy brow,
To me, much holier than thou?”
Were I far more bright
Than the heavenly light,
More pure than the snow
Where the glaciers grow,
And as undefiled as a little child
Dead and forgiven
And gone to heaven,
I should not gain
The right to disdain,
Or to stand apart
From my brother's heart,
Or turn my face
From a sinner's place,
Or breathe one word of hate or scorn
To the meanest wretch that ever was born.
Than the heavenly light,
More pure than the snow
Where the glaciers grow,
And as undefiled as a little child
Dead and forgiven
And gone to heaven,
I should not gain
The right to disdain,
Or to stand apart
From my brother's heart,
Or turn my face
From a sinner's place,
Or breathe one word of hate or scorn
To the meanest wretch that ever was born.
| Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature | |