(no subject)

[bookishfellow]

Forgiven

I might have met his anger with a smile
    For so it was that I had set my heart
To mask deception with a wanton's guile,
    And save the tears that now begin to start.

I might have worn my guilty crown of thorn,-
    Yea, even worn it gladly like a prize;
But, oh! more bitter than his rage or scorn,
    He left me with forgiveness in his eyes.

-Charles Hamilton Musgrove