Discipline

Throw away thy rod,

Throw away thy wrath:

O my God,

Take the gentle path.

For my heart's desire

Unto thine is bent:

I aspire

To a full consent.

Not a word or look

I affect to own,

But by book,

And thy book alone.

Though I fail, I weep:

Though I halt in pace,

Yet I creep

To the throne of grace.

Then let wrath remove;

Love will do the deed:

For with love

Stonie hearts will bleed.

Love is swift of foot;

Love's a man of warre,

And can shoot,

And can hit from farre.

Who can scape his bow?

That which wrought on thee,

Brought thee low,

Needs must work on me.

Throw away thy rod;

Though man frailties hath,

Thou art God:

Throw away thy wrath.

Edward Lear

Edward Lear, (born May 12, 1812, Highgate, near London, England—died January 29, 1888, San Remo, Italy), English landscape painter who is more widely known as the writer of an original kind of nonsense verse and as the popularizer of the limerick. His true genius is apparent in his nonsense poems, which portray a world of fantastic creatures in nonsense words, often suggesting a deep underlying sense of melancholy. Their quality is matched, especially in the limericks, by that of his engaging pen-and-ink drawings.

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