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Title: Poetic Proverbs
Author: J. C. Manning [
More Titles by Manning]
I.
"If thou be surety for thy friend, thou
art snared with the words of thy mouth,"
--PROVERBS vi. v. 1, 2.
Think well, my son, before you lend
Your name as bond for any friend;
Or, when the day of reckoning comes,
Come broken hearts and blighted homes.
Think well, my son, before you give
Your trusty word, that knaves may live:
Be not for such the stepping-stone,
But strive to earn and keep thine own.
II.
"A wise son maketh a glad father; but a
foolish son is the heaviness of his mother."
--PROVERBS x, v. 1.
Be wise, my son, as o'er the earth
Thou walk'st in search of wealth or fame;
Return her love who gave thee birth--
His, who thy youthful guide became.
That mother's heart must cease to beat;
That father's voice must cease to guide;
Oh! then what recollections sweet
Will cheer thy life's dark eventide.
III.
"Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;
The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.
--PROVERBS xiii, v. 12, 19.
I am watching--I am waiting;
And my heart droops sad and low.
No glad message brings me comfort
As the moments come and go.
While the flowers bask in sunshine;
While birds sing on every tree;
I am weary--weary, waiting--
For a message, love, from thee.
IV.
"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband."
--PROVERBS xii, v. 4.
As is the lustre to the lily;
As is the fragrance to the rose;
As is the perfume to the violet
In sweet humility that grows.
As is the glad warmth of the sunshine
Whene'er the earth is dark and cold;
So, to the loving heart that wears it,
Is Virtue's purest crown of gold.
V.
"Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful,
and the end of that mirth is heaviness."
--PROVERBS xiv, v. 13.
What though kind friends that gather round me
Seek to make my heart rejoice?
I miss the face I love so dearly--
Miss the music of thy voice;
And though I smile, as if in gladness,
Tis but the phantom of a smile;
My heart, in sorrowing and sadness,
Mourns thy absence all the while.
[The end]
J. C. Manning's poem: Poetic Proverbs
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