p. 354 | Two Words by Mabel Corinne Craker

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 16, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 23.

Two Words

By Mabel Corinne Craker

Unkind

I ROAM at large, as I have great dominion. I oft invade the palace and rude cot. The stalwart man bows low as I approach him. The form of a Napoleon fear I not. At one sharp blow, strong friendships can I sever. More deadly my attack than adder's sting, More fatal than the death-tipped arrows dealing Their basest cruelty on fleeting wing. The wife's faint sobs to me are sweetest music. I cause brave husbands pain and deep despair. The prattling child cow'rs low when in my presence, And those of many winters roughly fare. The man who keeps me chained within his bosom Excels the one before whom monarchs fall; And he who rules me with a rod of iron, No enemy doth fear, but conquers all. But when on ether waves I have my freedom, No force my fiendish tirade can retard. 'Tis then I seek my prey like beasts long fettered When clanking shackles break as flax well charred. And when at last my spectral mem'ry lingers, It haunts the chaos that I left behind. How strange that I can make such lasting havoc! I'm but a little thing — a word unkind.

Kind

Long, long ago, 'mid peaceful scenes celestial, Where dwell the holy, there I had my birth. And when this world was young, Christ's work completed, He sent me here, His sweetest gift to earth. My cheering voice lends courage to the infant Whose wav'ring step the new-found path begins. And when, perchance, his sun has reached its zenith, My tender care his onward progress tends. And should the shadow show nocturnal settlings, And angry breakers prove the coming storm, 'Tis then my quiet presence sheds a blessing As sweet as angel's breath on dewy morn. And he who sends me forth upon my mission, A gift more precious than rare gems bestows. A fragrance round my sacred mem'ry lingers, Surpassing far the attar of the rose. I seem so small to bring such lasting blessings! I'm but a word — a word in kindness bound; Yet those who learn to speak in heaven's language, Must first with lisping tongues my accents sound. MABEL CORINNE CRAKER.