is my creed,
This be my deed:
Faith, or a doubt,
I shall speak out--
And hide not my heart.

--Richard Watson Gilder.

A GENTLEMAN

(Psa. XV.)

'Tis he whose every thought and deed
By rule of virtue moves;
Whose generous tongue disdains to speak
The thing his heart disproves.

Who never did a slander forge
His neighbor's fame to wound;
Nor hearken to a false report
By malice whispered round.

Who vice in all its pomp and power
Can treat with just neglect;
And piety, though clothed in rags,
Religiously respect.

Who to his plighted word of truth
Has ever firmly stood;
And, though he promised to his loss,
Still makes his promise good.

Whose soul in usury disdains
His treasure to employ;
Whom no reward can ever bribe
The guiltless to destroy.

I hold it as a changeless law,
From which no soul can sway or swerve,
We have that in us which will draw
Whate'er we need or most deserve.

BE TRUE THYSELF

Thou must be true thyself
If thou the truth wouldst teach;
Thy soul must overflow if thou
Another's soul wouldst reach.
It needs the overflow of heart
To give the lips full speech.

Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.

--Horatius Bonar.

Keep pure thy soul!
Then shalt thou take the whole
Of delight;
Then, without a pang,
Thine shall be all of beauty whereof the poet sang--
The perfume and the pageant, the melody, the mirth,
Of the golden day and the starry night;
Of heaven and of earth.
Oh, keep pure thy soul!

--Richard Watson Gilder.

Somebody did a golden deed;
Somebody proved a friend in need;
Somebody sang a beautiful song;
Somebody smiled the whole daylong;
Somebody thought, "'Tis sweet to live."
Somebody said, "I'm glad to give";
Somebody fought a valiant fight;
Somebody lived to shield the right;
Was it you?

Then draw we nearer, day by day,
Each to his brethren, all to God;
Let the world take us as she may,
We must not change our road;
Not wondering, though in grief, to find
The martyr's foe still keep her mind;