The Home Circle by Joaquin Miller

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 1, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 25.

The Home Circle.

By Joaquin Miller

IS IT WORTH WHILE?

Is it worth while to jostle a brother Bearing his load on the rough road of life? Is it worth while that we jeer at each other In blackness of heart—that we war to the knife? God pity us all in our pitiful strife.

God pity us all as we jostle each other; God pardon us all for the triumph we feel When a fellow goes down 'neath his load on the heather, Pierced to the heart: words are keener than steel, And mightier far for woe or for weal.

Were it not well in this brief little journey On over the isthmus, down into the tide, We give him a fish instead of a serpent, Ere folding the hands to be and abide Forever and aye in dust at his side?

Look at the roses saluting each other; Look at the herds all in peace on the plain; Man, and man only, makes war on his brother, And laughs in his heart at his peril and pain; Shamed by the hearts that go down on the plain.

Is it worth while that we battle to humble Some poor fellow-soldier down into the dust? God pity us all! Time oft soon will tumble All of us together, like leaves in a gust, Humbled indeed down into the dust. —Joaquin Miller.