Poems (Emerson, 1847)/Forbearance

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

For other versions of this work, see Forbearance.

FORBEARANCE.

 

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Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk?
At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse?
Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust?
And loved so well a high behavior,
In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained,
Nobility more nobly to repay?
O, be my friend, and teach me to be thine!