Poems (Jordan)/The Best
THE BEST
Sweeter the song than the words express; Deeper the music than the keys;Nobler the fight, though 'tis triumphless, Than is a never challenged ease.Better the tryings than results; Higher the heights by reaching gainedAll life is mightier than its pulse; Than the explanation is the explained.
More exhales the flow'r than its scent makes own; Richer its meanings than its tints;The growing is not unmasked in the grown, And its form of the Moulding Hand but hints.Better the giving than the gift, And the better doing hides in deeds;Better are clouds the sun to rift Than light which blinds us to our needs.
Better the weakness that grasps God, Than trusted self-sufficiency;Better, though thornier, the road, If Faith, not Reason, leader be.Better are empty hands, outspread To take the gifts which Love supplies,Than hands too full to hold a need For that, alone, which satisfies.