Kindness
Georgia O’Keefe, Petunias #2
If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking
By Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Kindness
Emily Dickinson’s poetic style is always concise and to the point, especially in this simple expression of the dual benefits of a kind act. The recipient experiences a lessening of ache and pain, and the life of the deliverer acquires purpose.
Have you experienced or offered a memorable act of kindness ?
2 Comments. Leave new
A beautiful poem. Not only kindness but the feeling of life purpose can result from this act of kindness, thus making life more bearable for both the giver and the given.
Yes, you are so right, Judy. Kindness is a free gift of healing and comfort to anyone who experiences a harshness in life. If only nations realized that kindness is the mother of peace.