Poems (Duer)/The Kingdom of the Present
THE KINGDOM OF THE PRESENT.
Live for to-day, that sows and shall not reap; Live for to-day, that reaps and has not sown; Raise to thy lips the cup of life, drink deep: Bordered and bounded by the sea of sleep, The kingdom of the present is thine own.
Through yesterday, perhaps, sad echoes rise From shadowy pasts—hold, then, to-day more dear. Rest and content thee in its sunny skies, And to the future look with passionless eyes, That are below all hope, above all fear.
To-day I reign a Queen and thou a King— To-morrow, food for worms! but now no worse Because Time slips us off his golden ring, Because to-morrow Death may break the string That binds the unit to the universe.
C. D.