Equity.
Turn, turn thy hasty foot aside,
Nor crush that helpless worm;
The frame thy scornful looks deride
Required a God to form.
The common Lord of all that move,
From whom thy being flowed,
A portion of his boundless love
On that poor worm bestowed.
The sun, the moon, the stars he made
To all his creatures free;
And spreads o’er earth the glassy blade
For worms as well as thee.
The crown to awe, the rod to smite,
Is man’s by law divine:
But sacred be each humble right
That clashes not with thine.
Let savage prowlers of the wood,
With thirst or hunger bold,
Let poisonous foes by land or flood,
Let plunderers of the fold,
Let pilferers of the hoarded grain,
To justice victims die;
But injure not the harmless train
That creep, or walk, or fly.
Let them enjoy their little day,
Their lowly bliss receive:
O! do not lightly take away
The life thou canst not give.