And lingering to snuff their fresh perfume,—
O, there were other duties meant for thee,
Than to sit down in peacefulness and be!
O, there are brother hearts that dwell in gloom,
Souls loathsome, foul, and black with daily sin,
So crusted o’er with baseness, that no ray
Of Heaven’s blessed light may enter in!
Come down, then, to this hot and dusty way,
And lead them back to hope and peace again,—
For, save in Act, thy Love is all in vain.”