A Shropshire Lad/If it chance your eye offend you

by Alfred Edward Housman

XLV

If it chance your eye offend you,
Pluck it out, lad, and be sound:
'T will hurt, but here are salves to friend you,
And many a balsam grows on ground.

And if your hand or foot offend you,
Cut it off, lad, and be whole;
But play the man, stand up and end you,
When your sickness is your soul.

 

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