148
SONGS FROM THE SOUTHERN SEAS.
A sculptor once a granite statue made,
One-sided only, just to fit its place:
The unseen side was monstrous; so men shade
Their evil acts behind a smiling face.
O blind! O foolish! thus our sins to hide,
And force our pleading hearts the gall to sip;
O cowards! who must eat the myrrh, that Pride
May smile like Virtue with a lying lip.
A sin admitted is nigh half atoned;
And while the fault is red and freshly done,
If we but drop our eyes and think,—'tis owned,-
'Tis half forgiven, half the crown is won.
But if we heedless let it reek and rot,
Then pile a mountain on its grave, and turn.
With smiles to all the world,—that tainted spot
Beneath the mound will never cease to burn.
