PEBBLES AND SHELLS
ONLY A PEBBLE
Only a little pebble on a rocky strand
Roll'd by the restless sea till it shall be but sand;
Only a little life upon existence's shore
Tost by the tides of time till it shall be no more.
Only a little pebble on a rocky strand
Roll'd by the restless sea till it shall be but sand;
Only a little life upon existence's shore
Tost by the tides of time till it shall be no more.
MAN'S LITTLENESS
Man serves his generation and his day,
But time, it stretcheth e'en from aye to aye;
Andhisgreat world, where boundless oceans toss,
Is but an atom in the universe.
Man serves his generation and his day,
But time, it stretcheth e'en from aye to aye;
Andhisgreat world, where boundless oceans toss,
Is but an atom in the universe.
AN ESTIMATE
In youth we ask if he be sharp of wit,
Or rich, or famed before we call him fit;
In age we ask if he has suffered long
And nobly done his part through praise or wrong.
In youth we ask if he be sharp of wit,
Or rich, or famed before we call him fit;
In age we ask if he has suffered long
And nobly done his part through praise or wrong.
THE FAIREST HAND
The fairest hand may not be soft and white,
Encased in gloves, neat-fitting to the arm;
The hand of toil may be a fairer sight
When it holds charity within its palm.
The fairest hand may not be soft and white,
Encased in gloves, neat-fitting to the arm;
The hand of toil may be a fairer sight
When it holds charity within its palm.
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