Ballads and Lyrical poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

Said Head to Heart, “You lead me wrong:
The pulse of passion beats too strong.
You are the dupe of tears and sighs;
You take the Judgment by surprise;

II

“You melt at every sorrowing tale,
Let Feeling over Will prevail;
And still, by impulse led astray,
You draw me from the prudent way.

III

“When I would walk a steady pace;
Impetuous, you would run a race;
And ere a doubtful case I've tried,
You've prompted Pity to decide.

IV

“By bounds of Reason unconfined,
No space your sympathies can bind;
For, way ward as a petted child,
You scorn restraint, and wander wild.

V

“I pray you, Heart, these freaks forbear;
They cause me shame, they breed me care;
And I am blamed for going wrong,
And counted weak that you are strong.”

VI

Said Heart to Head, “You're cold and slow;
You cast a damp on Feeling's glow;
You are like water on the fire;
You are a clog on my desire.

VII

“You measure Passion by a rule,
You send the sympathies to school,
And, slave to logic and its laws,
You weigh, you ponder, and you pause.

VIII

“When I would prompt the pitying tear,
You purse the lip and look severe,
And quick to doubt and slow to grieve,
You lecture when you should relieve.

IX

“Oh! it is galling to be tied
To one so sluggish to decide,
Who chills me when I glow'd before,
And clings to earth when I would soar.”

X

The silent contest lasted long,
For both were right;—yet both were wrong.
“Strive,” to my secret soul I said,
“To reconcile the Heart and Head.

XI

“And let the Heart too warm and free,
Too sudden in its energy,
Pause for the advice of cooler Tact,
And learn to think before it act.

XII

“Let Head, too prone to reason still,
Even in extremity of ill,
Consent to play a warmer part,
Led by the dictates of the Heart.”