Page:Poems by William Wordsworth (1815) Volume 2.djvu/311

303 No self-reproach; who of the moral law

Established in the land where they abide

Are strict observers; and not negligent,

Meanwhile, in any tenderness of heart

Or act of love to those with whom they dwell,

Their kindred, and the children of their blood.

Praise be to such, and to their slumbers peace!

—But of the poor man ask, the abject poor,

Go and demand of him, if there be here

In this cold abstinence from evil deeds,

And these inevitable charities,

Wherewith to satisfy the human soul?

No—Man is dear to Man; the poorest poor

Long for some moments in a weary life

When they can know and feel that they have been

Themselves the fathers and the dealers-out

Of some small blessings, have been kind to such

As needed kindness, for this single cause,

That we have all of us one human heart.

—Such pleasure is to one kind Being known,

My Neighbour, when with punctual care, each week

Duly as Friday comes, though prest herself

By her own wants, she from her chest of meal

Takes one unsparing handful for the scrip