THE HUMAN TOUCH

 

THE   HUMAN   TOUCH

‘Tis the human touch in this world that counts,

The touch of your hand and mine,

Which means far more to the fainting heart

Than the shelter and bread and wine;

For shelter is gone when the night is o’er,

And bread lasts only a day,

But the touch of the hand and the sound of the voice

Sing on in the soul alway.

 

            This short poem is the creation of an American poet,  Spencer Michael Free (1856-1938).

 

The title is significant.  Currently, it is an integral part of social, political and psychological thought.

The theme is the help ‘a fainting heart’ needs at a particular time.  Materially, a night shelter, some bread and wine will uplift him but only temporarily because “the shelter is gone when the night is over and the bread and wine last only a day.”  What will give him lasting support is the touch of the helper’s compassionate hand and the sound of his kind words which will go on singing  in his soul for all times  to come. So, what the  people in trouble need is ‘the human touch’ defined as “the ability to make ordinary people feel relaxed ‘ not temporarily but perpetually .

                                               

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6^th June 2022                                                                                  G. R. Kanwal