Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/364

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280
THE CATERPILLAR.


The work of death and carnage. Yet should one,
A single sufferer from the field escaped,
Panting and pale, and bleeding at his feet,
Lift his imploring eyes,—the hero weeps;
He is grown human, and capricious Pity,
Which would not stir for thousands, melts for one
With sympathy spontaneous:—’Tis not Virtue,
Yet 'tis the weakness of a virtuous mind.