Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891.
The Human TieMary Mapes Dodge (18311905)
“As if life were not sacred, too.”—GEORGE ELIOT.
“S
“With gracious hand smooth all his roughened past,
And fullest measure of reward forecast,
Forgetting naught that gloried his brief day.”
Yet when the brother who, along our way—
Prone with his burdens, heart-worn in the strife—
Falters before us, how we search his life,
Censure, and sternly punish while we may!
And living hearts alone are ours to guard.
At least, begrudge not to the sore distraught
The reverent silence of our pitying thought.
Life, too, is sacred; and he best forgives
Who says: “He errs, but—tenderly! He lives.”