As the ambitious sculptor, tireless, lifts
Chisel and hammer to the block at hand,
Before my half-formed character I stand
And ply the shining tools of mental gifts.
I'll cut away a huge, unsightly side,
Of selfishness, and smooth to curves
of grace
The angles of ill-temper.
And no trace
Shall my sure hammer leave of silly pride.
Chip after chip must fall from vain
desires,
And the sharp corners of my discontent
Be rounded into symmetry, and lent
Great harmony by faith that never tires.
Unfinished still, I must toil on and
on,
Till the pale critic, Death, shall say,
"'Tis done."
Poems of Passion by Ella Wheeler
Chicago : Belford, Clarke & Co, 1883.
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