Sad are our hopes, for they were sweet in sowing— 5

But tares, self-sown, have over-topped the wheat;

Sad are our joys, for they were sweet in blowing—

And still, oh still, their dying breath is sweet;

And sweet is youth, although it hath bereft us

Of that which made our childhood sweeter still; 10

And sweet is middle life, for it hath left us

A newer good to cure an older ill;

And sweet are all things when we learn to prize them

Not for their sake, but His who grants them or denies them.