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Said And Did

George MacDonald

Said the boy as he read, “I too will be bold,
  I will fight for the truth and its glory!”
He went to the playground, and soon had told
  A very cowardly story!

Said the girl as she read, “That was grand, I declare!
  What a true, what a lovely, sweet soul!”
In half-an-hour she went up the stair,
  Looking as black as a coal!

“The mean little wretch, I wish I could fling
  This book at his head!” said another;
Then he went and did the same ugly thing
  To his own little trusting brother!

Alas for him who sees a thing grand
  And does not fit himself to it!
But the meanest act, on sea or on land,
  Is to find a fault, and then do it!
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From The Poetical Works of George MacDonald | 1893
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