Written on the window pane of a railway carriage after reading an
advertisement of sunlight soap, and _Poems_, by William Wordsworth.
I PASSED upon the wings of Steam
Along Tay’s valley fair,
The book I read had such a theme
As bids the Soul despair.
A tale of miserable men
Of hearts with doubt distraught,
Wherein a melancholy pen
With helpless problems fought.
Where many a life was brought to dust,
And many a heart laid low,
And many a love was smirched with lust—
I raised mine eyes, and, oh!—
I marked upon a common wall,
These simple words of hope,
That mute appeal to one and all,
_Cheer up_! _Use Sunlight Soap_!
Our moral energies have range
Beyond their seeming scope,
How tonic were the words, how strange,
_Cheer up_! _Use Sunlight Soap_!
‘Behold,’ I cried, ‘the inner touch
That lifts the Soul through cares!’
I loved that Soap-boiler so much
I blessed him unawares!
Perchance he is some vulgar man,
Engrossed in £ s. d.
But, ah! through Nature’s holy plan
He whispered hope to me!