BUT FOR THE TEARS.
‘The World were a place to play in,’ said the children
‘The play-ground of the present; all that is have we,
No past is ours to sorrow,
No clouding thought of morrow,
And joy is slow in passing where we be.
With knowledge of a soul’s right scarce awake.
Life had no fears:
The World were good to play in,’ said the children,
‘But for the tears.’
‘The World were good to love in,’ said the youth.
‘With a future all our own to dream and do,
With a fate for our soul’s making,
Fame for our manhood’s taking,
And Hope will never shun as we pursue.
Crowned with knowledge of a soul our calm and fair
horizon clears;
And the World were good to love in,’ said the youth,
‘But for the tears.’
