On
thee the loyal-hearted hung,
The proud was half disarm’d of pride,
Nor cared the serpent at thy side
To
flicker with his double tongue.
The
stern were mild when thou wert by,
The flippant put himself to school
And heard thee, and the brazen fool
Was
soften’d, and he knew not why;
While
I, thy nearest, sat apart,
And felt thy triumph was as mine;
And loved them more, that they were thine,
The
graceful tact, the Christian art;
Nor
mine the sweetness or the skill,
But mine the love that will not tire,
And, born of love, the vague desire
That
spurs an imitative will.