Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems By the Lady E. Stuart Wortley. In Three Vols |
 | I, II, III. |
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THE HEART'S HISTORY. |
 | Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems |  |
116
THE HEART'S HISTORY.
Oh! well it is we do not see,
Nor know each other's history!—
Grief's power—already far too wide,
Were then enlarged and multiplied.
Nor know each other's history!—
Grief's power—already far too wide,
Were then enlarged and multiplied.
How many a buried sealed despair,
What sorrows unsuspected there,
Should cast the shadow of their gloom—
Start hideous from their living tomb!
What sorrows unsuspected there,
Should cast the shadow of their gloom—
Start hideous from their living tomb!
Full many a fault should be shown then
Till, oh! we scarce might trust again,
(Did once the naked heart appear—)
Even the most cherished and most dear.
Till, oh! we scarce might trust again,
(Did once the naked heart appear—)
Even the most cherished and most dear.
117
Oh! well it is we do not see,
Nor know each man's deep history,
The history of his heart and mind—
'Tis well to this we must be blind!
Nor know each man's deep history,
The history of his heart and mind—
'Tis well to this we must be blind!
We may know what his life hath been—
The part he playeth on the scene—
His outward trials, troubles, cares;
But not how the inward being fares!
The part he playeth on the scene—
His outward trials, troubles, cares;
But not how the inward being fares!
Yes! we may know our brother's deeds—
The part he plays, the life he leads—
May mark his triumphs or his wrongs,
The rest to Heaven and him belongs.
The part he plays, the life he leads—
May mark his triumphs or his wrongs,
The rest to Heaven and him belongs.
The motives that o'er rule his mind—
To these we ever must be blind:
The actions are themselves revealed;
The springs of action are concealed!
To these we ever must be blind:
The actions are themselves revealed;
The springs of action are concealed!
118
The impulse and the chain refined,
Which doth the will and the action bind;
The countless wheels that ceaseless play,
No stranger-eye must e'er survey!
Which doth the will and the action bind;
The countless wheels that ceaseless play,
No stranger-eye must e'er survey!
Our neighbour's acts of peace or strife,
The mode and manner of his life,
May be the theme of busy tongues,
The rest to Heaven and him belongs!—
The mode and manner of his life,
May be the theme of busy tongues,
The rest to Heaven and him belongs!—
And well it is we may not see,
Nor sift each other's history,
A world of woe were then revealed,
That had far better rest concealed.
Nor sift each other's history,
A world of woe were then revealed,
That had far better rest concealed.
The feeling heart should then deplore
A thousand thousand times the more—
For, oh! how deeply should it know
This world to be a world of woe!
A thousand thousand times the more—
For, oh! how deeply should it know
This world to be a world of woe!
| Queen Berengaria's Courtesy, and Other Poems | |