quote · Legacy record
Grim-hearted world, that look’st with Levite eyes On those poor fallen by too much faith in man, She that upon thy freezing threshold lies, Starved to more sinning by thy savage ban,— Seeking that refuge because foulest vice More godlike than thy virtue is, whose span Shuts out the wretched only,—is more free From all her crimes than thou wilt ever be. Thou wilt not let her wash thy dainty feet With such salt things as tears, or with rude hair Dry them, soft Pharisee, that sit’st at meat With him who made her such, and speak’st him fair, Leaving God’s wandering lamb the while to bleat Unheeded, shivering in the pitiless air: Thou hast made prisoned virtue shew more wan And haggard, than a vice to look upon.
Grim-hearted world, that look’st with Levite eyes On those poor fallen by too much faith in man, She that upon thy freezing threshold lies, Starved to more sinning by thy savage ban,— Seeking that refuge because foulest vice More godlike than thy virtue is, whose span Shuts out the wretched only,—is more free From all her crimes than thou wilt ever be. Thou wilt not let her wash thy dainty feet With such salt things as tears, or with rude hair Dry them, soft Pharisee, that sit’st at meat With him who made her such, and speak’st him fair, Leaving God’s wandering lamb the while to bleat Unheeded, shivering in the pitiless air: Thou hast made prisoned virtue shew more wan And haggard, than a vice to look upon.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- James R. Lowell (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 214 · printed citation: James R. Lowell · subject: FALL
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.