quote · Legacy record
What shall I do to be just? What shall I do for the gain Of the world—for its sadness? Teach me, O seers that I trust! Chart me the difficult main Leading out of my sorrow and madness, Preach me the purging of pain. Shall I wrench from my finger the ring To cast to the tramp at my door? Shall I tear off each luminous thing To drop in the palm of the poor? What shall I do to be just? Teach me, O Ye in the light, Whom the poor and the rich alike trust; My heart is aflame to be right.
What shall I do to be just? What shall I do for the gain Of the world—for its sadness? Teach me, O seers that I trust! Chart me the difficult main Leading out of my sorrow and madness, Preach me the purging of pain. Shall I wrench from my finger the ring To cast to the tramp at my door? Shall I tear off each luminous thing To drop in the palm of the poor? What shall I do to be just? Teach me, O Ye in the light, Whom the poor and the rich alike trust; My heart is aflame to be right.
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
- Hamlin A. Garland
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 222; printed byline: Hamlin A. Garland; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.