IMPULSE AND PRINCIPLE.
Reading edition
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BY ALFRED B. STREET.
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Two youths approached a torrent in their path;
One soft and fair, one eagle-eyed and strong;
Thoughtful the last, the first all mirth and song.
They saw two bridges o’er the torrent’s wrath;
One a rough tree-trunk from a rugged ledge,
Rugged to reach, uneven to the tread;
The other at their feet, all broadly spread
With flowers and mosses plumped from edge to edge.
On the green platform sprang the first like light,
Still loud in song, but in his midway flight
The green bridge broke, and down to death he fell.
The other, meanwhile, clambered painfully
The steep, and, nerving strong, crossed safe the tree.
Thus in Temptation’s hour, Impulse and Principle.