Seven times

• Seven times have I despised my soul:
• The first time when I saw her being meek that she might attain height.
• The second time when I saw her limping before the crippled.
• The third time when she was given to choose between the hard and the easy, and she chose the easy.
• The fourth time when she committed a wrong, and comforted herself that others also commit wrong.
• The fifth time when she forbore for weakness, and attributed her patience to strength.
• The sixth time when she despised the ugliness of a face, and knew not that it was one of her own masks.
• And the seventh time when she sang a song of praise, and deemed it a virtue.