C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

Strange

HE died at night. Next day they came

To weep and praise him; sudden fame

These suddenly warm comrades gave.

They called him pure, they called him brave;

One praised his heart, and one his brain;

All said, “You’d seek his like in vain,—

Gentle, and strong, and good:” none saw

In all his character a flaw.

At noon he wakened from his trance,

Mended, was well! They looked askance;

Took his hand coldly; loved him not,

Though they had wept him; quite forgot

His virtues; lent an easy ear

To slanderous tongues; professed a fear

He was not what he seemed to be;

Thanked God they were not such as he;

Gave to his hunger stones for bread:

And made him, living, wish him dead.