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THE MOUSE'S PETITION.
37
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind,—as ancient sages taught,—
A never dying flame,
Still shifts through matter's varying forms,
In every form the same;
A never dying flame,
Still shifts through matter's varying forms,
In every form the same;
Beware, lest in the worm you crush,
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast
That little all to spare.
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast
That little all to spare.
