There’s quite a difference between
An epithet and label,
And one that often goes unseen
’Midst rhetoric and Babel.
Labels are necessary things,
As is nomenclature,
They wield no barbs nor hurtful stings
Whatever they infer.
Epithets, on the other hand,
Are simply spiteful names,
Falsely applied they never stand,
Nor substance any claims.
When people asking your support
Denounce their opposition
With epithets galore, you ought
Not make a rash decision,
But stop and ponder this a bit:
No cause is justified
If labels cannot fit;
’Tis then are epithets applied.
Back To Poetry Index