A REPLY TO A YOUNG LADY.

"I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done

Than to be one of the twenty to follow my own teaching,"

--_Merchant of Venice_.

"Do as I tell you, and not as I do."

--_Old Saying_.

You say, a "moral sign-post" I

Point out the road towards the sky;

And then with glance so very shy

You archly ask me, lady, why

I hesitate myself to go

In the direction which I show?

To answer is an easy task,

If you allow me but to ask

One little question, sweet, of you:--

'Tis this: should sign-posts travel too

What would bewildered pilgrims do--

Celestial pilgrims, such as you?

A Wreath of Virginia Bay Leaves Poems of James Barron Hope · 第 12 / 105 题