—Copyright by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass., and used by kind permission of author and publisher.
RIGHTEOUS WRATH
By Henry Van Dyke
There are many kinds of hate, as many kinds of fire;
And some are fierce and fatal with murderous desire;
And some are mean and craven, revengeful, selfish, slow,
They hurt the man that holds them more than they hurt his foe.
And yet there is a hatred that purifies the heart.
The anger of the better against the baser part,
Against the false and wicked, against the tyrant’s sword,