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Poem
August 31, 1884
Wheeling Sunday Register
Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia
What is this article about?
A didactic poem titled 'NOBLESSE OBLIGE' by Carlotte Perry, illustrating that those endowed with greater strength, gifts, and opportunities bear a higher responsibility to act nobly and contribute more, using analogies from nature like brooks, oaks, eagles, and larks.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
NOBLESSE OBLIGE.
CARLOTTE PERRY.
If I am weak and you are strong,
Why then, why then,
To you the braver deeds belong:
And so, again,
If you have gifts and I have none,
If I have shade and you have sun,
'Tis yours with freer hand to give.
'Tis yours with truer grace to live,
Than I, who giftless, sunless, stand
With barren life and hand.
We do not ask the little brook
To turn the wheel.
Into the larger stream we look.
The strength of steel
We do not ask from silken bands.
Nor heart of oak in willow wands
We do not ask the wren to go
Up to the heights the eagles know:
Nor yet expect the lark's clear note
From out the dove's dumb throat.
'Tis wisdom's law, the perfect code.
By love inspired:
Of him on whom is much bestowed
Is much required.
The tuneful throat is bid to sing.
The oak must reign the forest's king:
The rushing stream the wheel must move.
The beaten steel its strength must prove.
'Tis given unto the eagle's eyes
To face the midday skies.
CARLOTTE PERRY.
If I am weak and you are strong,
Why then, why then,
To you the braver deeds belong:
And so, again,
If you have gifts and I have none,
If I have shade and you have sun,
'Tis yours with freer hand to give.
'Tis yours with truer grace to live,
Than I, who giftless, sunless, stand
With barren life and hand.
We do not ask the little brook
To turn the wheel.
Into the larger stream we look.
The strength of steel
We do not ask from silken bands.
Nor heart of oak in willow wands
We do not ask the wren to go
Up to the heights the eagles know:
Nor yet expect the lark's clear note
From out the dove's dumb throat.
'Tis wisdom's law, the perfect code.
By love inspired:
Of him on whom is much bestowed
Is much required.
The tuneful throat is bid to sing.
The oak must reign the forest's king:
The rushing stream the wheel must move.
The beaten steel its strength must prove.
'Tis given unto the eagle's eyes
To face the midday skies.
What sub-type of article is it?
Ode
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Noblesse Oblige
Moral Duty
Strength Responsibility
Wisdom Law
Nature Analogies
What entities or persons were involved?
Carlotte Perry.
Poem Details
Title
Noblesse Oblige.
Author
Carlotte Perry.
Subject
Noblesse Oblige
Form / Style
Rhymed Stanzas
Key Lines
If I Am Weak And You Are Strong,
Why Then, Why Then,
To You The Braver Deeds Belong:
And So, Again,