O charity, thou livest not in warnings, meddling among men, Rebuking every foolish word, and censuring small sins; This is not thy secret,--rather wilt thou hide their multitude, And silence the condemning tongue, and wearisome exhortation. But for thee, thy strength and zeal shine in encouragement to good, Lifting up the lantern of ensample, that wanderers may find the way: That lantern is not lit to gaze on all the hatefulness of evil, But set on high for life and light, the loveliness of good. The hard censorious mind sitteth as a keen anatomist Tracking up the fibres in corruption, and prying on a fearful corpse: But the charitable soul is a young lover, enamoured little wisely, That saw no fault in her he loved, and sought to see one less; So, in his kind and genial light, she grew more worthy of his love; Won to good by gentle suns, and not by frowning tempest. Verily, infirm thyself,--be slow to chide a brother's imperfections; For many times the decent veil must hang on faults of nature: And the rude hands, that rend it, offend against the modesty of right, While seeming zeal, and its effort to do good, is only feigned self-praise: Often will the meannesses of life, hidden away in corners, Prove wisdom; and the generous is glad to leave them unregarded in the shade. The follies none are found to praise, let them die unblamed; Thine honest strife will only tend to make some think them wise: And small conventional deceits, let them live uncensured: Or if thou war with pigmies, thou shalt haply help the cranes. Where to be blind was safety, Ovid had been wise for winking: And when a tell-tale might do harm, be sure it is prudent to be dumb; That which is just and fit is often found combating with honesty: In the cause of good, be wise; and in a case indifferent, keep silence. Let honesty's unblushing face be shaded by the mantle of humility, So shall it shine a lamp of love, and not the torch of strife: Otherwise the lantern of Diogenes, presumptuously thrust before the face, If it never find an honest man, shall often make an angered. Let honesty be companied by charity of heart, lest it walk unwelcome; Or the mouthing censor of others and himself, soon shall sink to scorn. Let honesty be added unto innocence of life: then a man may only be its martyr; But if openness of speech be found with secresy of guilt, the martyr will be seen a malefactor.