SMALL THINGS

 

SMALL THINGS

‘SMALL THINGS’ is the title of a small poem written by the English poet Richard Monckton Milnes (1809-1885) , who was also a politician who fought for social justice.

His poem reads as follows:

A SENSE of an earnest will

To help the lowly living,

And a terrible heart-thrill,

If you have no power of giving;

An arm of aid to the weak,

A friendly hand to the friendless;

Kind words, so short to speak,

But whose echo is endless:

The world is wide, ----these things are small,

They may be nothing --- but they may be all.

 

            As a poet of social justice, Milne wants that those who belong to the upper strata should have a strong , genuine will to help the people of disadvantaged groups of society. The power of giving is a great  blessing but that of non-giving is a terrible curse. A little physical help to the weak; an attitude of friendliness to the friendless and a few kind words to the depressed which look small things are in fact too big. They are physically short but spatially vast. A cup of water to a man who is dying of thirst is  like a whole ocean.

According to Milne, the  impact of helpful small things is extremely huge in its scope. Though the actual sound of kind words is limited in its range, the expanse of its reverberations are endless.

 

Milne aptly concludes his poem with the following  words:

 

The world is wide, ---- these things are small,

They may be nothing, but they may be all.
                                                *******

 

25^th May 2022                                                                    G.R.Kanwal