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writing_shadows2011-10-17 09:07 pm
lslaw.livejournal.com) wrote in writing_shadows2011-10-17 09:07 pm
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Verses of Virtue: Mercy - The Kindness of Angels
The Kindness of Angels
The quality of mercy is not strained,
Nor is it a weakness mercy to show,
But a resolute strength, heart’s wrath restrained,
A might that only the virtuous know.
Yet mercy, like reason, is oft mistaken,
By those who lack the strength to understand,
And for no more than cowardice taken,
When in truth fear constrains the stay of hand.
Thus sometimes merciful quality must,
Fall not as gentle rain but as thunder;
As Jove’s bolt strike iniquity to dust,
And tear blustering, false heart asunder.
They are earnest and honest who have said,
The truest mercy is the sharpest blade.
The quality of mercy is not strained,
Nor is it a weakness mercy to show,
But a resolute strength, heart’s wrath restrained,
A might that only the virtuous know.
Yet mercy, like reason, is oft mistaken,
By those who lack the strength to understand,
And for no more than cowardice taken,
When in truth fear constrains the stay of hand.
Thus sometimes merciful quality must,
Fall not as gentle rain but as thunder;
As Jove’s bolt strike iniquity to dust,
And tear blustering, false heart asunder.
They are earnest and honest who have said,
The truest mercy is the sharpest blade.