<P> Standard English translation Oh, would some Power give us the gift To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion: What airs in dress and gait would leave us, And even devotion! </P> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> In this poem the narrator notices a lady in church, with a louse that is roving, unnoticed by her, around in her bonnet . The poet chastises the louse for not realising how important his host is, and then reflects that, to a louse, we are all equal prey, and that we would be disabused of our pretensions if we were to see ourselves through each other's eyes . An alternative interpretation is that the poet is musing to himself how horrified and humbled the pious woman would be if she were aware she was harboring a common parasite in her hair . </P>

The gift to see ourselves as others see us