The Poetry of Real Life A New Edition, Much Enlarged and Improved. By Henry Ellison |
THE SEEMING BEGGAR. |
The Poetry of Real Life | ||
32
THE SEEMING BEGGAR.
A tatter'd, wayworn beggar! verilyTo sight it seems so; but how do ye know
That gifts of glory, passing outward show,
May not be hid 'neath rags and poverty?
He hath asked nought of thee, and passes by
Like one who reverence to himself doth owe,
A soul built up with that which makes most low!
And haply he hath more, than you or I,
To give of that wherein all worth doth dwell;
If we were stripped, we might the poorer seem.
And God, when he would work a miracle,
Even with such as these, whom men esteem
The outcasts of society, loves well
Poor, scorned Humanity from insult to redeem!
The Poetry of Real Life | ||