Until thy feet have trod the Road<br>Advise not wayside folk,<br>Nor till thy back has borne the Load<br>Break in upon the broke.<br><br>Chase not with undesired largesse<br>Of sympathy the heart<br>Which, knowing her own bitterness,<br>Presumes to dwell apart.<br><br>Employ not that glad hand to raise<br>The God-forgotten head<br>To Heaven and all the neighbours' gaze --<br>Cover thy mouth instead.<br><br>The quivering chin, the bitten lip,<br>The cold and sweating brow,<br>Later may yearn for fellowship --<br>Not now, you ass, not now!<br><br>Time, not thy ne'er so timely speech,<br>Life, not thy views thereon,<br>Shall furnish or deny to each<br>His consolation.<br><br>Or, if impelled to interfere,<br>Exhort, uplift, advise,<br>Lend not a base, betraying ear<br>To all the victim's cries.<br><br>Only the Lord can understand,<br>When those first pangs begin,<br>How much is reflex action and<br>How much is really sin.<br><br>E'en from good words thyself refrain,<br>And tremblingly admit<br>There is no anodyne for pain<br>Except the shock of it.<br><br>So, when thine own dark hour shall fall,<br>Unchallenged canst thou say:<br>I never worried you at all,<br>For God's sake go away!