Moral Lessons and Domestic Virtue

Where it surfaces

• Lines on Methodist Union

  The union is framed as a moral victory against Satan, emphasizing the virtuous goal of spreading faith and fighting evil.

• Robert Fleming Gourley

  The chapter presents Gourley as a relic of the past, with a moral lesson about age, ambition, and the futility of seeking office in old age.

• Odd Fellowship in Woodstock

  The verses highlight virtues such as friendship, love, truth, and charity, and the lodge's mission to console the distressed and bless the needy.

• Odd Fellowship Lines Read at Concert

  The lines emphasize moral duties like aiding widows and orphans, maintaining friendship, love, and truth, and promoting universal brotherhood.

• London Children

  The poem expresses a moral wish for children to be spared from earthly woes and to blossom, reflecting domestic virtue and care for the young.

• Our Firemen

  The poem emphasizes the virtues of bravery, readiness, and selfless service to the community.

• Masonic Lines Read at a Banquet

  The poem emphasizes moral integrity, brotherly love, and the duty to relieve the needy, aligning with domestic virtues.

• Poetry

  Poetry is presented as a solace for life's ills and a duty to sing of worth and beauty, reflecting moral and uplifting purposes.

• Opening Ode

  The poem highlights the order's charitable deeds, relieving distress and blessing widows, reflecting moral virtue and domestic responsibility.

• Lines Addressed to an Old Bachelor

  The poem promotes the moral virtue of marriage and family life over solitary bachelorhood.

• Snake and Potato Bug

  The poem presents a gentle moral about kindness and coexistence, as the bug clings to the snake for safety and the snake tolerates the bug.

• An Autograph

  The poem reflects on the brevity of life ('time is brief') and the wisdom of maturer ages, offering moral reflections within the lighthearted context of an album.

• Lines on a Typewriter

  The poet advises against abusing the old quill, implying a moral preference for preserving traditional tools and methods.

• Impromptu

  The poem conveys a moral lesson about the rudeness of striking a fair maid, emphasizing domestic virtue and proper conduct.

• Advice to a Little Girl

  The poem instructs a little girl on righteousness, bravery, sewing, knitting, and household tidiness, emphasizing moral conduct and domestic skills as the path to respect.

• A Bird's Nest

  The old man's guardianship and the youths' restraint from harming the birds convey a moral about protecting the innocent.

• A Concert—Impromptu

  The impromptu verse praises courage and perseverance in the face of adversity, reinforcing moral virtues.

• Female Revenge

  The poem illustrates a moral lesson about the consequences of boastful behavior and the clever, domestic means by which a woman defends her virtue.

• O for a Lodge

  The poem highlights the tension between personal escape and domestic responsibility, with the wife defending the home against the husband's desire to join yet another lodge.

• Potato Bug Exterminators

  The poem imparts a moral lesson about heeding useful advice and observing nature's laws for practical benefit.

• Wars in Queen Victoria’s Reign

  The concluding wish for wars to cease and peace to prevail imparts a moral lesson.

• Milton

  The poem emphasizes moral instruction through the story of the Fall and the path to redemption.

• Byron

  The chapter contrasts Byron's passionate, fiery nature with the gentler pursuits of other poets, implicitly offering a moral lesson on the costs of such intensity.

• Tennyson

  Tennyson is praised for despising baronhood and singing that it was noble to be good, emphasizing moral virtue over aristocratic title.

• Irish Poets

  Goldsmith's lines on wealth and decay offer a moral reflection on society.

• Tim Moore

  Moore's work is portrayed as enshrining jewels of virtue and beauty, offering moral and aesthetic uplift to readers.

• Oliver Goldsmith

  Goldsmith's lines warn against the moral decay that accompanies wealth accumulation and neglect of community.

• American Poets

  Longfellow's 'Psalm of Life' and the moral reflections on selfish strife exemplify this theme.

• Longfellow

  The chapter highlights Longfellow's 'Psalm of Life' as a critique of selfish strife, promoting moral reflection and virtuous living.

• Walt Whitman

  Whitman's kindness and care for wounded soldiers exemplifies moral virtue and compassion in service to others.

• Scottish Poets

  Burns is praised for teaching that manly worth is more precious than gold and for extolling noble deeds over noble birth.

• Elf Shot

  The story imparts a moral about the power of imagination and fear, and the comfort of returning to family.

• Book Agent Story

  The tale humorously critiques consumer gullibility and the domestic strife caused by aggressive salesmanship, implying a moral about prudence and trust.

• Hints to Cheese Makers

  The advice to keep dishes clean and factories neat reflects a moral emphasis on diligence, order, and virtue in domestic and commercial work.

• Lines on Gunn

  The poem advises Gunn to aim high, employ truth, and destroy wrong, emphasizing moral integrity in his new role.

• Questions and Answers

  The speaker prioritizes domestic life and personal identity over organizational affiliations, suggesting a moral stance on simplicity and family.

• Salford Parsonage

  The pastor's role in guiding troubled hearts and the community's virtuous response to disaster are emphasized.

• Big Bear the Indian Chief

  The narrative emphasizes justice and the triumph of order over savagery.

• Fighting for Conquest

  A moral critique of conquest-driven war, highlighting the virtues of home and family over imperial ambition.

• Dairy Ode

  Extols the virtues of hard work, cleanliness, and proper management in rural domestic life.

• When to Sell Grain and Farm Produce

  The advice is framed as a moral imperative to avoid waste and to bless mankind by alleviating distress through efficient commerce.

• Four Acre Farm

  Ruth's industrious, contented, and virtuous life is presented as an ideal of domestic and moral simplicity.

• Gordon and Burnaby

  The closing lines caution against boasting of war unless in self-defense, urging nations to prize the arts of peace.

• Poets and Philosophers

  The discussion of Shakespeare's personal life and his wandering ways carries a moral undertone about domestic responsibility.

• Lofty Actors Withdraw

  The poem contrasts the moral righteousness of the North's emancipation with the bravery of the South, emphasizing the justice of Lincoln's cause.

• Brain Engravings

  Reflects on the greatest blessing of hope in heaven and the glories of the heavenly prize, offering a moral and spiritual lesson.

• Survival of the Fittest

  The poem redefines 'survival of the fittest' as a Christian moral principle, emphasizing perseverance, righteousness, and aiding others rather than ruthless competition.

• Motto

  The motto directly promotes moral virtues of politeness, perseverance, and pluck as a formula for success.

• Things Should Be Judged by Merit

  The poem delivers a clear moral lesson: judge people and works by their intrinsic merit, not by reputation or origin.

• The Gates Ajar

  The child's innocent faith and the father's goodness exemplify moral virtue and the domestic ideal of a loving family.

• Child Made Happy

  The surgeon's kindness and Mary's gratitude illustrate the virtue of compassion and the moral lesson of finding joy in small gifts.

• Power of Love

  The poem presents love as a moral and domestic force that brings beauty and harmony to life.

• Her Lover's Step

  The wife's unwavering faithfulness and the portrayal of marriage as a sacred bond reinforce domestic virtue and moral steadfastness.

• The Useful Weed

  The poem delivers a moral lesson against despising humble things and advises practical caution about allowing weeds to overrun cultivated land.

• Golden Egg

  The fable warns against greed and impatience, while the modern tale praises the hen's domestic utility and the miner's reward.

• Little Dora

  The poem uses a lighthearted domestic scene to teach a moral about familial love and the value of returning affection, framed through the metaphor of a bank and interest.

• Lines on the Death of a Farmer’s Wife

  Praises the woman's domestic virtues—kindness, care, hard work—as a model for others.

• Danger of Fire Arms

  The poem serves as a moral warning against the dangers of firearms, emphasizing responsibility and the tragic outcomes of carelessness.

• Bird Sent by Providence

  The poem conveys a moral lesson about divine providence and the virtue of faith in times of hardship, as the poor man sees the bird as a sign from God.

• Help in Need

  The poem contrasts empty sympathy with true charity, teaching that actions, not words, define virtue.

• All Men Are Brothers

  The poem delivers a moral lesson about the failure of modern society to live up to the ideal of brotherhood, criticizing greed and class prejudice.

• The Good Man

  The poem extols the virtue of kindness and charity, lamenting the lack of recognition for such goodness.

• High in Masonry

  The poem uses the mason's boast to illustrate a moral lesson about pride and the limits of achievement within the fraternal order.

• Tramp and Fish

  The poem illustrates a moral lesson about justice and the rights of the poor, emphasizing that not all theft is criminal if the means are lawful.

• Snake and Its Young

  The mother snake's self-sacrificing act to protect her offspring can be interpreted as a moral lesson about maternal devotion and protection.

• Tiger and Elephant

  The story concludes with a moral praising the noble fight of beasts to protect their young, emphasizing virtue and familial duty.

• Virtues of a Diamond Ring

  The poem extols the virtues of loyalty, perseverance, and devotion, embodied by the servant's unwavering care for his master.

• Child Saved by Dog

  The poem teaches a moral lesson about bravery, duty, and the value of life, emphasizing domestic virtues like maternal love and loyalty.

• Leach the Engineer

  The poem contrasts paid mercenaries with true heroes who fight for home and country, emphasizing selfless sacrifice and moral courage.

• Jackal and Child

  The poem illustrates the virtue of parental courage and divine providence in rescuing a child from danger.

• Little Hero

  The poem extols the heroic and selfless act of the elder brother, emphasizing moral virtue and familial duty.

• Good Shot

  The poem concludes with a moral assertion that the North had justice on its side and that freedom for the slave led to greater prosperity.

• Lost Son Found

  The poem rewards bravery and selflessness with a miraculous reunion, emphasizing the virtue of risking one's life to save others and the comfort of family.

• Shoe Black

  The kindness of the man and nurse, and the boy's innocent faith, convey moral lessons about compassion and spiritual reward.

• Duck and Oyster

  The poem serves as a cautionary fable about the dangers of greed and overreaching, as the duck's desire for a 'glorious treat' leads to its death and the loss of its prize to a 'hungry sinner.'

• Baby Darling

  The poem emphasizes the value of family over material wealth, teaching a lesson about domestic happiness.

• The Apiary

  The poem uses the bee colony as a moral allegory for industriousness, loyalty to the queen, and the consequences of theft and fraud, reflecting domestic virtues and societal order.

• Sheep

  The farmer's wife is portrayed as a paragon of virtue, working tirelessly without complaint and raising a large family, embodying domestic ideals of the era.

• Duties of Life

  The poem directly instructs on choosing a mate, cultivating true love, and making a paradise of home, framing domestic bliss as the truest joy.

• Horace Greely and Mrs. Staunton

  The poem contrasts martial valor with domestic duty, as Mrs. Staunton chooses to encourage others from home rather than engage in bloodshed.

• Reflections After Reading “The Coming Race” and “Looking Backward”

  The poem contrasts warlike past with peaceful present, suggesting moral improvement through the rejection of war.

• A Ghost Story

  The poem illustrates the folly of cowardice and the reward of bravery, as Mary chooses the farmer's son who 'never from a ghost had run.'

• Fairy Tale

  John and Mary's contentment and faith in old beliefs are contrasted with skeptical neighbors, teaching a lesson about simplicity and belief.

• The Rescue

  The minister's faith is tested, and the story illustrates divine providence and the power of parental love.

• Tom Norton

  Tom's storytelling teaches Christian truths and moral tales, leading the islanders to abandon warfare and embrace peace and family values.

• Fox Hunt Yarn

  The tale ends with a moral lesson: the narrator is forever dissuaded from fox hunting, implying a caution against reckless pursuits.

• The King and Peasant

  The poem illustrates the virtue of humility and kindness across social classes, as the King's simple, generous actions earn the peasant family's lasting loyalty and gratitude.

• Spanish Donkey

  The story illustrates honesty and community integrity, as the mayor ensures fair trade and the peasant recovers through honest dealings.

• Child and Horse

  The poem ends with a clear moral about trusting in Providence, emphasizing domestic virtue and faith.

• Wooden Leg

  The poem presents a moral lesson about finding recompense and cheerfulness in misfortune, turning a disability into a source of practical and social advantage.

• Young Swell and Tramp

  The poem illustrates a moral lesson about pride and humility, as the swell's conceit is met with the tramp's clever persistence.

• Lightning Rod Agent

  Jones's prioritization of safety over cost illustrates a practical, domestic virtue.

• Conquered by a Child

  The child's innocence and smile 'conquer' the desperate convicts, leading to repentance and a heroic act of selflessness.

• Joined His Church

  The poem explores themes of honesty, acceptance, and the challenges of marriage, highlighting domestic virtues and moral commitment despite personal flaws.

• Soldier and Gander

  The soldier's deceitful trick on the old woman and her gander illustrates a moral lesson about cunning and survival.

• Dime Story

  The story illustrates honesty, resourcefulness, and the virtue of keeping one's word, as the boy fulfills his contract and the wife aids her husband.

• Lines

  The poem promotes a moral imperative to care for the honest poor, framing it as a domestic and community virtue.