XLV. If it chance your eye offend you. Housman, A. E. 1896. A Shropshire Lad

A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad. 1896.

XLV. If it chance your eye offend you


IF it chance your eye offend you,
Pluck it out, lad, and be sound:
’Twill hurt, but here are salves to friend you,
And many a balsam grows on ground.

And if your hand or foot offend you,	5
Cut it off, lad, and be whole;
But play the man, stand up and end you,
When your sickness is your soul.