Classic Poem

Offended Spirit! pity, and forgive! —
This bleeding heart is thy avenger too,
And self-accus'd — yet Hope's bright pinion flew
To Mercy's altar: — Let not anger live
In gentle minds! — The Angels can receive
Their Penitent in Heaven; the birth renew,
And wash the guilt away in holy dew,
Which they can weep — Remission 's thine to give,
Thine to withhold, from injuries to love,
That on the anguish of contrition's tear
Are melted into air: The penal doom
That's due to all, an olive-bearing dove
To them remits, who felt the mercy here
That gilds alone the shadows of their tomb.