IV.
Not more variety in wayside weeds1
Than in the Godsends lavishly bestow’d2
On man, who takes them often like a load3
Of worthless or unvalued waifs ; and heeds4
No jot their purpose, nor discerning reads5
Their undevelop’d good ; upon the road6
He lets them lie, trod like the toad7
Beneath his foot ; and, thoughtless, on proceeds.8
But, like the jewel in the reptile’s head,9
Or, like the wholesome virtues in the herb,10
Latent, unnotic’d, dully left unread,11
Cast by in carelessness, or mood acerb,12
The gem-bright eyes unseen, the
healthful juice unsought,13
The Godsend’s sacred lesson still
remains un-
taught.14
taught.14