Explore "Dorcas Gustine" by Edgar Lee Masters on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I was not beloved of the villagers, / But all because I spoke my mind, / And met those who transgressed against me / With plain remonstrance, hiding nor nurturing / Nor secret griefs nor grudges.
That act of the Spartan boy is greatly praised, / Who hid the wolf under his cloak, / Letting it devour him, uncomplainingly.
It is braver, I think, to snatch the wolf forth / And fight him openly, even in the street, / Amid dust and howls of pain.
The tongue may be an unruly member --
But silence poisons the soul.
Berate me who will -- I am content.