< Poems That Every Child Should Know

  The quality of mercy is not strain'd;
  It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven
  Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
  It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
  'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
  The throned monarch better than his crown:
  His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
  The attribute to awe and majesty,
  Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
  But mercy is above his sceptered sway;
  It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
  It is an attribute to God himself;
  And earthly power doth then show likest God's
  When mercy seasons justice.

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