The good we meant to do—the deeds
So oft misunderstood;
The thwarted good we try to do,
And would do, if we could,
The noble deeds we set upon
And have accomplished none—
Write them—and with them credit all
The bad we have not done.
—Wilbur D. Nesbit.
Believe not each accusing tongue,
As most weak persons do;
But still believe that story wrong
Which ought not to be true.
—Sheridan.
THE INEVITABLE
I like the man who faces what he must
With step triumphant and a heart of cheer;
Who fights the daily battle without fear;
Sees his hopes fail, yet keeps unfaltering trust
That God is God—that somehow, true and just
His plans work out for mortals; not a tear
Is shed when fortune, which the world holds dear,
Falls from his grasp—better, with love, a crust
Than living in dishonor; envies not,
Nor loses faith in man; but does his best,
Nor ever murmurs at his humbler lot;
But, with a smile and words of hope, gives zest
To every toiler. He alone is great
Who by a life heroic conquers fate.
—Sarah Knowles Bolton.
SYMPATHY
'Tis a little thing
To give a cup of water; yet its draught
Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips,
May give a shock of pleasure to the frame
More exquisite than when nectarean juice
Renews the life of joy in happier hours.
It is a little thing to speak a phrase
Of common comfort which by daily use
Has almost lost its sense, yet on the ear
Of him who thought to die unmourned 'twill fall
Like choicest music, fill the glazing eye
With gentle tears, relax the knotted hand
To know the bonds of fellowship again;
And shed on the departing soul a sense,
More precious than the benison of friends
About the honored deathbed of the rich,
To him who else were lonely, that another
Of the great family is near and feels.
—Sir Thomas N. Talfourd.
COME GOOD OR EVIL
Come wealth or want, come good or ill,
Let young and old accept their part,
And bow before the awful Will,
And bear it with an honest heart.
Who misses or who wins the prize
Go, lose or conquer as you can;
But if you fail, or if you rise,
Be each, pray God, a gentleman.
—William Makepeace Thackeray.
"Then let us smile when skies are gray,
And laugh at stormy weather,
And sing life's lonesome times away:
So worry and the dreariest day
Will find an end together."