160. Scandal--Live it down.

Should envious tongues some malice frame,
To soil and tarnish your good name,
Live it down!

Grow not disheartened; 'tis the lot
Of all men, whether good or not:
Live it down!

Rail not in answer, but be calm;
For silence yields a rapid balm;
Live it down!

Go not among your friends and say,
Evil hath fallen on my way:
Live it down!

Far better than yourself alone
To suffer, than with friends bemoan
The trouble that is all your own:
Live it down!

What though men evil call your good!
So Christ Himself, misunderstood,
Was nailed unto a cross of wood!
And now shall you for lesser pain,
Your inmost soul for ever stain,
By rendering evil back again?
Live it down!

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