Poems (Jordan)/We Cannot
WE CANNOT
We cannot learn from seed, What sort of buds will bloom;Nor a life's story read From words upon a tomb;We cannot know by tears Which well has been their source;—If Joy's which overcheers,— Or Grief's, cupped in remorse.
We cannot tell by laughter, Whence proceeds the sound;Perhaps it follows after Despair's unhealing wound;It may be whole as childhood's,— Mirthless as withered years;Or the heart's voice in wild moods, Defying deadly fears!
We cannot judge by masks What features lie beneath;Nor doing dreary tasks What tyrant-swords we sheathe!We cannot know by aught Which on the surface floats,With what the stream is fraught, On which Life sails her boats!