quote · Legacy record
Suppose a kindly word of mine Could lift the clouds and bring sunshine; Am I my brother's keeper? Suppose the weary worker toils, For scanty pittance delves and moils; Am I my brother's keeper? Suppose in penury and fear My neighbor see the wolf draw near; Am I my brother's keeper? * * * * * Perhaps—who knows?—perhaps I'm not! Self-centred soul! hast thou forgot The marvel of our common lot, The mystic tie that binds us all Who dwell on this terrestrial ball, Stupendous hope of time and song, The bourne for which the ages long? How hard our hearts must seem to Thee, Exhaustless Fount of Charity!
Suppose a kindly word of mine Could lift the clouds and bring sunshine; Am I my brother's keeper? Suppose the weary worker toils, For scanty pittance delves and moils; Am I my brother's keeper? Suppose in penury and fear My neighbor see the wolf draw near; Am I my brother's keeper? * * * * * Perhaps—who knows?—perhaps I'm not! Self-centred soul! hast thou forgot The marvel of our common lot, The mystic tie that binds us all Who dwell on this terrestrial ball, Stupendous hope of time and song, The bourne for which the ages long? How hard our hearts must seem to Thee, Exhaustless Fount of Charity!
In print by 1911 AD · modern
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
- Henry Nehemiah Dodge
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1911 AD · modern
In print by 1911: recorded in The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911). 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
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 344; printed byline: Henry Nehemiah Dodge; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.