Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: m. D. MAN of such surpassing grace That kings might envy his address; Whose acts for ev'ry time and place A perfect fitness do possess; A man of pure and ready wit Whose shafts are free from poisoned stain. But strike where they are aimed to hit And leave no rancor and no pain. A man of such unselfish heart, Of mind so lofty and serene, Who knoweth manhood more than art And hath no unclean thought to screen; A man of patience strangely rare, Forgiving, gentle, kind and just; Bold in the right, but swift to spare, Quick to uphold, slow to distrust; A stranger to unseemly pride Or affectation's poor deceit; In sorrow and afflction tried, He drank the bitter and the sweet. A man of such superior mould As all that's base soars far above; Who daily doth some charm unfold To win a friend's unselfish love. That is a friend of mine. ? His name ? Ah, that is not for me to tell. If thou hast known him, his fair fame Will teach thee that thou know'st it well. Composite CAN'T make out his elder ways ? This boy of mine, this man of ten, Who wreathes the flow'rs of childish days In gardens far beyond our ken. Howe'er he sits or talks or broods, With thoughtful brow or twinkling eye, I find in all his changing moods Some long forgotten memory. Thus, if his thought be gently sad, He folds his hand together ? so For all the world as, when a lad, I saw his grandma years ago; And when he speaks I hear once more Another's softer monotone, That proves the truth from days of yore ? He is his mother's very own. In peevish anger o'er a fret Such as I wish would never be, I see, with natural regret, A gesture that is "just like me." And when he's aired his father's airs And stalked off with a sta...