| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Forgiveness | | By John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) |
| | | MY heart was heavy, for its trust had been | |
| Abused, its kindness answered with foul wrong; | |
| So, turning gloomily from my fellow-men, | |
| One summer Sabbath day I strolled among | |
| The green mounds of the village burial-place; | 5 |
| Where, pondering how all human love and hate | |
| Find one sad level; and how, soon or late, | |
| Wronged and wrongdoer, each with meekened face, | |
| And cold hands folded over a still heart, | |
| Pass the green threshold of our common grave, | 10 |
| Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart, | |
| Awed for myself, and pitying my race, | |
| Our common sorrow, like a mighty wave, | |
| Swept all my pride away, and trembling I forgave! | | | | |
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