The Two Angels

An angel came to earth to try
To teach the truth as known on high;
But having tried,
In grief he cried:
"The things of God they do but spurn;^__
Is truth too high for them to learn

Their souls appear to be too weak
To grasp the verities I speak;
Their vision clings
To lower things;
An earthly maxim suits them well,
While truths diviner but repel."
___________
An angel came to dwell on earth;
He lived a life of heavenly worth;
And men, amazed,
Upon him gazed,
And said: "Such living is, indeed,
The very kind we deeply need."

By showing did this angel lead
To highest thought and noblest deed.
Weak is the word
That's merely heard;
But doing, living, counts, is strong,
In turning human souls from wrong.

Quillings In Verse
John Edward Everett
(Smith Center: ^___. 1912)
Pages 33-34