Tolerance

'It is a foolish thing,' said I,

'To bear with such, and pass it by;

Yet so I do, I know not why!'

And at each clash I would surmise

That if I had acted otherwise

I might have saved me many sighs.

But now the only happiness

In looking back that I possess —

Whose lack would leave me comfortless —

Is to remember I refrained

From masteries I might have gained,

And for my tolerance was disdained;

For see, a tomb. And if it were

I had bent and broke, I should not dare

To linger in the shadows there.