By Robert William Service ’Tis true my garments threadbare are,And sorry poor I seem;But inly I am richer farThan any poet’s dream. For I’ve a hidden life no oneCan ever hope to see;A sacred sanctuary noneMay share with me. Aloof I stand from out the strife,Within my heart a song;By virtue of my inner lifeI … Read more
By Myra Viola Wilds What kind of thoughts now, do you carryIn your travels day by day?Are they bright and lofty visions,Or neglected, gone astray? Matters not how great in fancy,Or what deeds of skill you’ve wrought;Man, though high may be his station,Is no better than his thoughts. Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,Let … Read more
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Tell me not, in mournful numbers,Life is but an empty dream!—For the soul is dead that slumbers,And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest!And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,Is our … Read more
By Li Bai My old friend bids farewell at Yellow Crane Tower,In the misty blossoms of March, he goes down to Yangzhou.His lonely sail is a distant shadow on the blue void,Till now I only see the Yangtze River flowing to the edge of the sky.
by Kahlil Gibran Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.And the selfsame well from which your laughter riseswas oftentimes filled with your tears.And how else can it be?The deeper that sorrow carves into your being,the more joy you can contain.Is not the cup … Read more
By Li Bai Before my bed, the moonlight glows,I wonder if it’s frost upon the floor.I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,I lower my head and think of home.
by Rabindranath Tagore This is my prayer to thee, my lord—strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.Give … Read more
By Edna St. Vincent Millay I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. CrownedWith lilies and with laurel they go; but I am … Read more
By James Whitcomb Riley I cannot say, and I will not sayThat he is dead—he is just away!With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,He has wandered into an unknown land,And left us dreaming how very fairIt needs must be, since he lingers there. And you—O you, who the wildest yearnFor the old-time … Read more
By Henry Scott Holland Death is nothing at all.It does not count.I have only slipped away into the next room.Nothing has happened.Everything remains exactly as it was.I am I, and you are you,and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call … Read more