But—shop each day and all day long!
Friend, your good angel slept, your star
Suffered eclipse, fate did you wrong!
From where these sorts of treasures are,
There should our hearts be—Christ, how far!
There ought to be far more in a man than can be put into a front window.
This man had all sorts of “curios” in his shop window, but there was
nothing rich or rare in his soul; and so there was room for all of _him_
in a den which would not have held the hundredth part of his wares. The
contemptible manner of the man’s life is strikingly brought out by the
various suppositions (stanzas 5, 6, 7) so different from the poor
reality (8-9). All he cared for was business, which made him “chuckle”
on the one hand or “chafe” on the other, according as times were good or
bad (10). Even in his business it was not the real excellence of his
wares he cared for, only their saleability (11). A merchant prince is a
very different person (13-19). The last three stanzas give the lesson in
a style partly humorous, but passing in the end to an impressive
solemnity.
In connection with this should be read the companion piece, “House,” to
which reference is made in the Introduction.
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