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Home  »  Yale Book of American Verse  »  217 Reform

Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912.

Richard Watson Gilder 1844–1909

Richard Watson Gilder

217 Reform

I

OH, how shall I help to right the world that is going wrong!

And what can I do to hurry the promised time of peace!

The day of work is short and the night of sleep is long;

And whether to pray or preach, or whether to sing a song,

To plow in my neighbor’s field, or to seek the golden fleece,

Or to sit with my hands in my lap, and wish that ill would cease!

II

I think, sometimes, it were best just to let the Lord alone;

I am sure some people forget He was here before they came;

Tho’ they say it is all for His glory, ’t is a good deal more for their own,

That they peddle their petty schemes, and blate and babble and groan.

I sometimes think it were best, and a man were little to blame,

Should he pass on his silent way nor mix with the noisy shame.