I was climbing up a mountain-path
With many things to do,
Important business of my own,
And other people's too,
When I ran against a Prejudice
That quite cut off the view.
My work was such as could not wait,
My path quite clearly showed,
My strength and time were limited,
I carried quite a load;
And there that hulking Prejudice
Sat all across the road.
So I spoke to him politely,
For he was huge and high,
And begged that he would move a bit
And let me travel by.
He smiled, but as for moving! —
He didn't even try.
And then I reasoned quietly
With that colossal
mule:
My time was short — no other path —
The mountain winds were cool.
I argued like a Solomon;
He sat there like a fool.
Then I flew into a passion,
and I danced and howled and swore.
I pelted and belabored him
Till I was stiff and sore;
He got as mad as I did —
But he sat there as before.
And then I begged him on my knees;
I might be kneeling still
If so I hoped to move that mass
Of obdurate
ill-will —
As well invite the monument
To vacate Bunker Hill!
So I sat before him helpless,
In an ecstasy
of woe —
The mountain mists were rising fast,
The sun was sinking slow —
When a sudden inspiration came,
As sudden winds do blow.
I took my hat, I took my stick,
My load I settled fair,
I approached that awful incubus
With an absent-minded air —
And I walked directly through him,
As if he wasn't there!
What does the author imply about the nature of prejudice in this poem? How does the author suggest one should react to prejudice?