Be lenient with the blighted crowd;
Some come, perhaps, to greet a shroud;
Some, perhaps, will go outside
And yet become a nation's pride.
If by kindness you reclaim
A single soul from crime and shame,
God will reward the noble deed
And aid you in the hour of need.
[Last Night in the Dungeon.]
The darkness of Hades and a vile, deathly smell
Is all that I feel stealing over my senses,
As lingering alone in this cold dungeon cell,
Shut away from the world, where hearts' blood condenses.
I feel 'tis too much for slight, trivial offenses.
Shut away from the dear ones, the loved ones on earth,
I suffer the tortures that no man can tell
Till he's taken away from fireside and hearth
And sees the sad visions of a dungeon cell—
Then he feels that vile man can create a real hell.