Poems (Denver)/Forgive
For works with similar titles, see Forgive.
FORGIVE.
If ever, in some brief moment,
My lips have uttered an unkind word,
That has from its tranquil slumbers
Thy heart to unwonted anger stirred,
Forgive it! before the sunset
Hath stolen in silence from the west;
Forget it! before the morning
Hath gemmed with her pearls the green earth's breast.
My lips have uttered an unkind word,
That has from its tranquil slumbers
Thy heart to unwonted anger stirred,
Forgive it! before the sunset
Hath stolen in silence from the west;
Forget it! before the morning
Hath gemmed with her pearls the green earth's breast.
The rank weeds spring the thickest,
Where'er is found the richest soil;
And where the bird sings sweetest
May often be seen the serpent's coil;
Yet the hand of patient labor
May remove the weeds from the earth away,
And the hand that feeds the raven
May snatch from the venomed foe the prey.
Where'er is found the richest soil;
And where the bird sings sweetest
May often be seen the serpent's coil;
Yet the hand of patient labor
May remove the weeds from the earth away,
And the hand that feeds the raven
May snatch from the venomed foe the prey.
Then if my lips have uttered
A word it hath pained thy soul to hear,
Let it pass from thy heart forever;
Always wrong costs the doer dear.
Forgive it, before the shadows
Of death have closed o'er the final scene;
Forgive it, before the darkness
Refuses to say we "once have been."
A word it hath pained thy soul to hear,
Let it pass from thy heart forever;
Always wrong costs the doer dear.
Forgive it, before the shadows
Of death have closed o'er the final scene;
Forgive it, before the darkness
Refuses to say we "once have been."