WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

THY neighbour? it is he whom thou
Hast power to aid and bless –
Whose aching heart and burning brow
Thy soothing hand may press.

Thy neighbour? – ‘tis the fainting poor,
Whose eye with want is dim,
Whom hunger drives from door to door –
Go thou, and succour him.

Thy neighbour? – ‘tis the weary man,
Whose years are at their brim,
Bit low with sickness, cares, and pain –
Go thou, and comfort him.

Thy neighbour? – ‘tis the heart bereft
Of every earthly gem;
Widow and orphan, helpless left –
Go thou, and shelter them.

Thy neighbour? – yonder toiling slave,
Fettered in thought and limb,
Whose hopes are all beyond the grave –
Go thou, and ransom him.

Where ‘ere thou meet’st a human form
Less favoured than thy own,
Remember ‘tis they neighbour worm,
Thy brother or thy son.

Oh, pass not, pass not heedless by,
Perhaps thou can’st redeem
The breaking heart from misery –
Go, share thy lot with him.

ANON.