Robert Southwell - Scorn Not The Least

WHERE wards are weak and foes encount'ring strong , Where mightier do assault than do defend , The feebler part puts up enforc'd wrong , And silent sees that speech could not amend. Yet higher powers must think , though they repine , When sun is set , the little stars will shine. While pike doth range the seely tench doth fly , And crouch in privy creeks with smaller fish; Yet pikes are caught when little fish go by , These fleet afloat while those do fill the dish. There is a time even for the worm to creep , And suck the dew while all her foes do sleep. The merlin cannot ever soar on high , Nor greedy greyhound still pursue the chase; The tender lark will find a time to fly , And fearful hare to run a quiet race: He that high growth on cedars did bestow , Gave also lowly mushrumps leave to grow. In Aman's pomp poor Mardocheus wept , Yet God did turn his fate upon his foe; The lazar pined while Dives' feast was kept , Yet he to heaven , to Hell did Dives go. We trample grass , and prize the flowers of May , Yet grass is green when flowers do fade away.Robert Southwellhttp://www.poemhunter.com/poem/scorn-not-the-least/