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?