Look for No Pity

LOOK for no pity from the smiling child,
Nor seek for mercy in the ardent, wild
Eyes of the young. There is too much to see
And hear, to touch and know. Impatiently
They turn away. Not often will the old
Weep for your sorrow. They have grown too cold
Watching the pattern that their own griefs trace,
Till life and death alike seem commonplace.
Look, if you must, for pity only where
A wound has laid some heart the first time bare.