I’m one half a Bible command,
That aye and forever shall stand;
And, throughout our beautiful land,
’T is needed now to foil the traitorous band.
I’m always around,--yet they say
Too often I’m out of the way.
Thereby leading astray;
I’m decked in jewels fine and rich array.
Although from my heart I am stirred,
I can utter but one little word,
And that very seldom is heard;
My elder sister sometimes kept a bird.
Reads the riddle clear to you?
I am very near to you:
Both very near and dear--to you,
Yet kept in chains. Does that seem queer to you?
That about being “stirred from the heart” is all true. So is that about
being “_around_.” The “Bible command,” spoken of at the beginning, is
only in three words, or two words joined by “and.” This word is the
first half. But I mustn’t tell you too much.
They are all _dear_. But some kinds are dearer than others.