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Show THE NEGLECTED PATTERN. A weaver sat one day at his loom Among the colors bright. While the pattern-for his copying Hung fair and plain in sight. But the weaver's thoughts were wandering wan-dering Away on a distant track. As he threw the shuttle in his hand Wearily forward and back. And he turned his dim eyes to the ground. And his tears fell on the woof, For his thoughts, alas! were not with his work, Nor the wife beneath the roof. When her voice recalled him suddenly To himself as she sadly said: "Ah, woe is me! for your work is . spoiled, And what will we do for bread?" And then the weaver looked and saw His work must be undone: For the threads were wrong and the colors dimmed "Alack! alack!" said the weaver, "And this had been all right If I had not looked at my work, but kept The pattern in my sight!" Ah! sad it was for the weaver. And sad for his lucklees wife; And sad will it be for us if we say At the end of our task in life: "The colors that we had to weave Were bright in our earlier years, But we wove the tissue wrong and stained The woof with bitter tears. "We wove a web of doubt and fear Not faith and hope and love, Because we ever looked at our work and not At our pattern up above." Phoebe Cary. |