Ah! I could curse them in my woe, <br />E'en as the viper stings, <br />And to the heel that strikes it clings, <br />So I could plant my blow. <br />Yes, I could pray that fell disease <br />Should torture them with pain- <br />That plague should fall in every rain, <br />Miasma taint each breeze. <br />That wealth should vanish, and the curse <br />Of poverty should reign; <br />That cries for bread should be in vain! <br />An always empty purse. <br />That friends should die, and every pride <br />Should vanish in a day; <br />'Till even hope withdraws her ray, <br />And naught of joys abide. <br />Yes, I could whisper in the ear <br />Of one who loves to tell <br />Some fabrication, dark as hell, <br />As scandal loves to hear. <br />Revenge is sweet; I could invent <br />Full many a thousand way, <br />That would my heartfelt wrongs repay, <br />Could they my soul content. <br />But could I go to sleep in peace, <br />And could I dream of heaven- <br />Could I e'er hope to be forgiven <br />When death came to release? <br />Revenge is sweet to those who live; <br />But when we think of death- <br />The ebbing of this life-tide breath- <br />'Tis sweeter to forgive.<br /><br />Mary Eliza Perine Tucker Lambert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/revenge-75/
