Living

Understood

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1850–1919

From Poems of Progress and New Thought Pastels (1913)

Living

I value more than I despise
My tendency to sin,
Because it helps me sympathise
With all my tempted kin.

He who has nothing in his soul
That links him to the sod,
Knows not that joy of self-control
Which lifts him up to God.

And I am glad my heart can say,
When others trip and fall
(Although I safely passed that way),
'I understand it all.'

MLA

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. “Understood.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wilcox/330/.

Chicago

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. “Understood.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wilcox/330/.

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