Forebearance
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun; Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk; At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse; Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust; And loved so well a high behavior In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained, Nobility more nobly to repay?— O be my friend, and teach me to be thine!
Forebearance - meaning Summary
Learning Patient, Noble Restraint
Emerson addresses a person who practices forbearance — someone who refrains from harm, honors nature, eats simply at others' tables, meets danger unarmed, and responds to nobility with silence rather than repayment. The poem admires self-restraint, moral courage, and quiet respect, and ends with a plea: the speaker asks to befriend this exemplar and learn to return such noble behavior in kind.
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