SONNET.
He who never did eat his bread in tears;
Who never passed a dreary bitter night,
And in his bed of sorrow, the hard fight
Of pending troubles saw, with anxious fears:
Who never an exile forlorn for years,
And never wept with Israel 'at the sight
Of the waters of Babylon' (Psalm 137), the might
Of Heaven's word is unknown to his ears.
IS THERE A MORTAL EYE THAT NEVER WEPT?
WITH tears the child begins his wants to show
In tears the man out of the earth is swept.
Whether we bless or grumble here below,
HIM who ever in His hand the world has kept
In dark affliction's school we learn to know.
(Of course my original is in Italian.)