propriety and calm

let us pause now and ask each one to drink
out of the pool and refresh each hot part
calm all those things that had worked from the start
such factors draw us swiftly to the brink
of hasty anger thrown far out of sync
our feelings sharpened made both short and tart
these are the matters chased far from the heart
we learn to act before we learn to think
the stillest waters hide no weary shark
monsters are left behind in children's tales
by all the mothers of the former age
no more this horror than a passing dark
those are the tasks at which the hero fails
but we ban those hard words from the pure page