Hymns and Odes for Charity Occasions V

Faint, bleeding, of his robes bereft,
"Ready to perish" by the way,
'Mid craggy wilds by robbers left,
A lonely Jewish traveller lay.


A priest of Judah, passing by,
The sufferer saw, and help denied.
A Levite toward him turned his eye,
And "passed by on the other side."


A traveller from Samaria came,--
Whose nation's bosom long had burned
With hatred of the Jewish name,--
And toward the wounded stranger turned.


As nearer, on his beast, he drew,
A thrill of pity through him ran;--
He saw not there a hated Jew;
He only saw a suffering man.


He saw him;--from his own scant store
Of oil and wine he filled his cup,
From his own robe a bandage tore,
And bathed his wounds and bound them up;


On his own beast the sufferer laid,
And to an hospitable shed
Bore him,--for all his nursing paid,
And left him on a grateful bed.


"Go, do thou likewise!" Thus said He,
Who gave the world this touching tale;--
We would do likewise, Lord, till we
Tread, each alone, Death's shadowy vale.