Page:Pocahontas and Other Poems (NY).pdf/238

Rh Then, as the bee gleans from the humblest flower Sown by the wayside honey for her hive, I treasured up the lesson, and when eve Call'd home the labouring ox, and to its bed Warn'd the young bird, and shut the lily's cup, I took my little boy upon my knee, And told him of the basket-bearer's toil, And of the friend who help'd him. When his eye Swell'd full and round, and fix'd upon my face, Taking the story to his inmost soul, I said, "My son, be pitiful to all, And aid them when thou canst.                                                  For God hath sown Sweet seeds within us, seeds of sympathy, Whose buds are virtues, such as bloom for heaven.

If thy young sister weepeth, kiss the tear From her smooth cheek, and sooth with tender words Her swelling breast; or if a secret thorn Is in thy brother's bosom, draw it thence; Or if thy playmate sorroweth, lend an ear, And share with sympathy his weight of wo.

And when thou art a man, my little one, Still keep thy spirit open to the ills Of foreigner and stranger, of the race Whom Afric's sun hath darken'd, and of those Poor red-brow'd exiles from our forest shades, Where once they ruled supreme. Thus shalt thou shun That selfishness which, wrapp'd in its own gifts,