Anger

Anger

Anger is never evil in itself;
’T is only bad when it is misapplied;
For it is good when rous’d on Virtue’s side,
And Reason holds the reins; a wicked elf
When uncontroll’d—an angel should it take 5
The right direction. He whose soul ne’er felt
Indignant when the tongue of Slander dealt
Its poison on the pure—who for the sake
Of the oppress’d ne’er rais’d or hand or voice—
Who ne’er felt Anger for the injured weak— 10
For a mean coward has not far to seek,
And for a friend can never be my choice.
Give me the man who rouses at all wrong,
For he is worthy of the poet’s song.

George Markham Tweddell
p. 46 [in Miscellaneous Sonnets]
The Voice of Reason, Chicago, Feb., 1892.