Why sit down in gloom and darkness, With your grief to sup?
As you drink Fate"s bitter tonic Smile across the cup.
Smile upon the troubled pilgrims Whom you pa.s.s and meet; Frowns are thorns, and smiles are blossoms Oft for weary feet.
Do not make the way seem harder By a sullen face, Smile a little, smile a little, Brighten up the place.
Smile upon your undone labor; Not for one who grieves O"er his task, waits wealth or glory; He who smiles achieves.
Though you meet with loss and sorrow In the pa.s.sing years, Smile a little, smile a little, Even through your tears.
_Ella Wheeler Wilc.o.x._
From "Poems of Power."
[Ill.u.s.tration: ELLA WHEELER WILc.o.x]
SIT DOWN, SAD SOUL
"A watched pot never boils." Though the pot be the pot of happiness, the proverb still holds true.
Sit down, sad soul, and count The moments flying: Come,--tell the sweet amount That"s lost by sighing!
How many smiles--a score?
Then laugh, and count no more; For day is dying.
Lie down, sad soul, and sleep, And no more measure The flight of Time, nor weep The loss of leisure; But here, by this lone stream, Lie down with us and dream Of starry treasure.
We dream: do thou the same: We love--forever; We laugh; yet few we shame, The gentle, never.
Stay, then, till Sorrow dies; _Then_--hope and happy skies Are thine forever!
_Bryan Waller Procter._
SONG OF ENDEAVOR
Don Quixote discovered that there are no eggs in last year"s bird"s-nests. Many of us waste our time in regrets for the past, without seeming to perceive that hope lies only in endeavor for the future.
"Tis not by wishing that we gain the prize, Nor yet by ruing, But from our falling, learning how to rise, And tireless doing.
The idols broken, nor our tears and sighs, May yet restore them.
Regret is only for fools; the wise Look but before them.
Nor ever yet Success was wooed with tears; To notes of gladness Alone the fickle G.o.ddess turns her ears, She hears not sadness.
The heart thrives not in the dull rain and mist Of gloomy pining.
The sweetest flowers are the flowers sun-kissed, Where glad light"s shining.
Look not behind thee; there is only dust And vain regretting.
The lost tide ebbs; in the next flood thou must Learn, by forgetting.
For the lost chances be ye not distressed To endless weeping; Be not the thrush that o"er the empty nest Is vigil keeping.
But in new efforts our regrets to-day To stillness whiling, Let us in some pure purpose find the way To future smiling.
_James W. Foley._
From "The Voices of Song."
KEEP A-GOIN"!
Some men fail and quit. Some succeed and quit. The wise refuse to quit, whether they fail or succeed.
Ef you strike a thorn or rose, Keep a-goin"!
Ef it hails, or ef it snows, Keep a-goin!
"Taint no use to sit an" whine, When the fish ain"t on yer line; Bait yer hook an" keep a-tryin"-- Keep a-goin"!
When the weather kills yer crop, Keep a-goin"!
When you tumble from the top, Keep a-goin"!
S"pose you"re out of every dime, Bein" so ain"t any _crime;_ Tell the world you"re feelin" _prime_-- Keep a-goin"!
When it looks like all is up, Keep a-goin"!
Drain the sweetness from the cup, Keep a-goin"!
See the wild birds on the wing, Hear the bells that sweetly ring, When you feel like sighin" _sing--_ Keep a-goin"!
_Frank L. Stanton._
From "The Atlanta Const.i.tution."
WHEN EARTH"S LAST PICTURE IS PAINTED