he stem
And cause it to live and grow?
Can you mend the butterfly's broken wing
That you crush with a hasty blow?
Can you put the bloom again on the grape
And the grape again on the vine?
Can you put the dewdrops back on the flowers
And make them sparkle and shine?
Can you put the petals back on the rose?
If you could, would it smell as sweet?
Can you put the flour again in the husk,
And show me the ripened wheat?
Can you put the kernel again in the nut,
Or the broken egg in the shell?
Can you put the honey back in the comb,
And cover with wax each cell?
Can you put the perfume back in the vase
When once it has sped away?
Can you put the corn-silk back on the corn,
Or down on the catkins, say?
You think my questions are trifling, lad,
Let me ask you another one:
Can a hasty word be ever unsaid,
Or a deed unkind, undone?

325

In 1841 Robert Browning (1812-1889) published a
drama in verse entitled _Pippa Passes_. Pippa
was a little girl who worked in the silkmills
of an Italian city. When her one holiday of the
year came, she arose early and went singing out
of town to the hills to enjoy the day. Various
people who were planning to do evil heard her
songs as she passed and did not do the wicked
things they had intended to do. The next day
Pippa returned to her usual work and never knew
that her songs had changed the lives of many
people. The following is the first of Pippa's
songs.

PIPPA'S SONG

ROBERT BROWNING

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His Heaven--
All's right with the world!

326

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) was an English
journalist, poet, and miscellaneous writer. He
was especially popular as a writer of songs,
composing both words and music. Other
well-known poems of his are "The Miller of Dee"
and "Tubal Cain." "Little and Great" presents a
familiar idea through a series of
illustrations--the idea that great and lastin