David Bates (1809-1870)
Speak Gently
1Speak gently! -- It is better far
2 To rule by love, than fear --
3Speak gently -- let not harsh words mar
4 The good we might do here!
5Speak gently! -- Love doth whisper low
6 The vows that true hearts bind;
7And gently Friendship's accents flow;
8 Affection's voice is kind.
9Speak gently to the little child!
10 Its love be sure to gain;
11Teach it in accents soft and mild: --
12 It may not long remain.
13Speak gently to the young, for they
14 Will have enough to bear --
15Pass through this life as best they may,
16 'T is full of anxious care!
17Speak gently to the aged one,
18 Grieve not the care-worn heart;
19The sands of life are nearly run,
20 Let such in peace depart!
21Speak gently, kindly, to the poor;
22 Let no harsh tone be heard;
23They have enough they must endure,
24 Without an unkind word!
25Speak gently to the erring -- know,
26 They may have toiled in vain;
27Perchance unkindness made them so;
28 Oh, win them back again!
29Speak gently! -- He who gave his life
30 To bend man's stubborn will,
31When elements were in fierce strife,
32 Said to them, "Peace, be still."
33Speak gently! -- 't is a little thing
34 Dropped in the heart's deep well;
35The good, the joy, which it may bring,
36 Eternity shall tell.
Notes
1] Parodied by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1866): 84-85, "Speak roughly to your little boy."
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: The Poetical Works of David Bates, ed. Stockton Bates (Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger, 1870): 18-19. Wesleyan University Library
First publication date:
1849
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 2:2001/11/21
Rhyme: abab
Other poems by David Bates
