quote · Legacy record
Were we as rich in charity of deed As gold—what rock would bloom not with the seed? We give our alms, and cry “What can we more?” One hour of time were worth a load of ore! Give to the ignorant our wisdom!—give Sorrow our comfort!—lend to those who live In crime, the counsels of our virtue!—share With souls our souls, and Satan shall despair! Alas! what converts one man, who would take The cross, and staff, and house with Guilt, could make! ***** Search the material tribes of earth, sea, air, And the fierce Self, which strives and slays, is there; What but that Self to man doth Nature teach? Where the charmed link that binds the all to each? Where the sweet law, (doth Nature boast its birth?) “Good will to man, and charity on earth?”
Were we as rich in charity of deed As gold—what rock would bloom not with the seed? We give our alms, and cry “What can we more?” One hour of time were worth a load of ore! Give to the ignorant our wisdom!—give Sorrow our comfort!—lend to those who live In crime, the counsels of our virtue!—share With souls our souls, and Satan shall despair! Alas! what converts one man, who would take The cross, and staff, and house with Guilt, could make! ***** Search the material tribes of earth, sea, air, And the fierce Self, which strives and slays, is there; What but that Self to man doth Nature teach? Where the charmed link that binds the all to each? Where the sweet law, (doth Nature boast its birth?) “Good will to man, and charity on earth?”
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
- Sir E. B. Lytton (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 109 · printed citation: Sir E. B. Lytton · subject: CHARITY
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.