Slander
I.
The hoary frost may touch with chilling finger
The fairest flower that blooms beneath the skies,
And leave a mildew on its breast to linger,
Despoiling all the radiance of its dyes.
The dew's pure tears, the gentle zephyr's sighs,
Are powerless to obliterate the stain.
It sears and cankers, till the blossom lies
A wreck of faded beauty on the plain,
Never to glad the earth with its sweet breath again.
II.
And thus it is with woman's reputation —
Her brightest ornament, her richest dower,
A breath, a little word of defamation,
Though spoken in a whisper, has the power
To blight it as the frost may blight the flower;
To hush the voice of love, whose magic tone
Could cheer her spirit in its saddest hour;
To dim the star that o'er her pathway shone.
And leave her broken heart all desolate and lone.
III.
No life is free from faults — to err is human;
But what in man is scarcely deemed offense,
The world condemns as heinous in a woman.
Gossip awakens, straining soul and sense,
And goaded on to madness by suspense,
Weaves wonders in her tissue, day by day,
Till curiosity becomes intense
To know the time, the manner and the way,
That some frail human heart was wiled and led astray.
IV.
Perchance the tattler, busily retailing
Vile rumors, viler hints, designs to show
In the broad light of some one one's fault or failing,
Himself, as pure and spotless as the snow.
Alas, for human weakness — is this so?
How can the tree be good that bears such fruit?
Can bitter water from sweet fountains flow?
These test, no sophistry can e'er refute,
And they should speak aloud, to keep the slanderer mute.
V.
Alas, how many a burning tear has started,
How many a life-drop from the heart been wrung;
How many a woman, pure and gentle-hearted,
Has died of poison from a slanderous tongue!
It clings to high and low, to old and young;
It breathes from lips as fair as opening flowers;
Then is it like the serpent hid among
The fragrance and the bloom of Eden's bowers,
An angel clothed in light, with Satan's hellish powers.
VI.
O, for the blessed charity that smothers
The tares our selfishness has blindly sown,
That leads us, when we scan the lives of others,
To look within and scrutinize our own.
If all our feelings, thoughts and deeds were known,
How would we steal away with crimson shame,
Like those of old, who dared not cast a stone
On the frail creature who incurred their blame,
Knowing their hearts were worse than her's they would defame.
VII.
None but the Omniscient Eye, the Eye All-seeing
From man's creation to his destined end,
Can judge impartially a human being,
Or tell the goal to which his footsteps tend.
We only know that good and evil blend
In human hearts, like mingled light and shade;
That all have faults and foibles to amend.
Then let us cease to censure and upbraid,
And give the weak support, encouragement and aid.
The hoary frost may touch with chilling finger
The fairest flower that blooms beneath the skies,
And leave a mildew on its breast to linger,
Despoiling all the radiance of its dyes.
The dew's pure tears, the gentle zephyr's sighs,
Are powerless to obliterate the stain.
It sears and cankers, till the blossom lies
A wreck of faded beauty on the plain,
Never to glad the earth with its sweet breath again.
II.
And thus it is with woman's reputation —
Her brightest ornament, her richest dower,
A breath, a little word of defamation,
Though spoken in a whisper, has the power
To blight it as the frost may blight the flower;
To hush the voice of love, whose magic tone
Could cheer her spirit in its saddest hour;
To dim the star that o'er her pathway shone.
And leave her broken heart all desolate and lone.
III.
No life is free from faults — to err is human;
But what in man is scarcely deemed offense,
The world condemns as heinous in a woman.
Gossip awakens, straining soul and sense,
And goaded on to madness by suspense,
Weaves wonders in her tissue, day by day,
Till curiosity becomes intense
To know the time, the manner and the way,
That some frail human heart was wiled and led astray.
IV.
Perchance the tattler, busily retailing
Vile rumors, viler hints, designs to show
In the broad light of some one one's fault or failing,
Himself, as pure and spotless as the snow.
Alas, for human weakness — is this so?
How can the tree be good that bears such fruit?
Can bitter water from sweet fountains flow?
These test, no sophistry can e'er refute,
And they should speak aloud, to keep the slanderer mute.
V.
Alas, how many a burning tear has started,
How many a life-drop from the heart been wrung;
How many a woman, pure and gentle-hearted,
Has died of poison from a slanderous tongue!
It clings to high and low, to old and young;
It breathes from lips as fair as opening flowers;
Then is it like the serpent hid among
The fragrance and the bloom of Eden's bowers,
An angel clothed in light, with Satan's hellish powers.
VI.
O, for the blessed charity that smothers
The tares our selfishness has blindly sown,
That leads us, when we scan the lives of others,
To look within and scrutinize our own.
If all our feelings, thoughts and deeds were known,
How would we steal away with crimson shame,
Like those of old, who dared not cast a stone
On the frail creature who incurred their blame,
Knowing their hearts were worse than her's they would defame.
VII.
None but the Omniscient Eye, the Eye All-seeing
From man's creation to his destined end,
Can judge impartially a human being,
Or tell the goal to which his footsteps tend.
We only know that good and evil blend
In human hearts, like mingled light and shade;
That all have faults and foibles to amend.
Then let us cease to censure and upbraid,
And give the weak support, encouragement and aid.
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