Who have a broom still ready in your hands
To rid the world of nuisances; ye proud
Heart-swoln, while in your heart ye contemplate
Your talents, power, and wisdom, deem him not
A burden of the earth.”
No; he is “a record binding together past deeds and offices of charity”; “a silent monitor” to those who sit sheltered “in a little grove of their own kindred”; an object to call forth that blessed feeling that you have, though “poorest poor,” been “the fathers and dealers-out of some small blessings”; a prompter to “tender offices and pensive thoughts.” See this picture:
“Such pleasure is to one kind being known,
My neighbor, when with punctual care, each week,
Duly as Friday comes, though press'd herself
By her own wants, she from her chest of meal