AL. G. FIELD, COURT AND SCOTT

     Just stand aside and watch yourself go by;

     Think of yourself as "he" instead of "I."

     Note closely, as in other men you note,

     The bag-kneed trousers and the seedy coat.

     Pick the flaws; find fault; forget the man is you,

     And strive to make your estimate ring true;

     Confront yourself and look you in the eye—

     Just stand aside and watch yourself go by.

     Interpret all your motives just as though

     You looked on one whose aims you did not know.

     Let undisguised contempt surge through you when

     You see you shirk, O commonest of men!

     Despise your cowardice; condemn whate'er

     You note of falseness in you anywhere.

     Defend not one defect that shames your eye—

     Just stand aside and watch yourself go by.

     And then, with eyes unveiled to what you loathe—

     To sins that with sweet charity you'd clothe—

     Back to your self-walled tenements you'll go

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