Gerald Gould expresses in verse a sentiment that many will indorse:
It is the slow and softly dropping tears
That bring the furrows to man’s face; the years,
Falling and fall’n vain,
That turn the gold to gray upon his head;
And the dull days to disappointment wed,
And pain that follows pain
That make life bitter in the mouth, and strew
The dead with roses, but the quick with yew.
Better a wide and windy world, and scope
For rise and downfall of a mighty hope,
Than many little ills;
Better the sudden horror, the swift wrong,
Than doubts and cares that die not, and the long
Monotony that kills:
The empty dawns, pale stars, and narrow skies,
Mean hopes, mean fears, mean sorrows, and mean sighs.
(Text.)--_The Spectator._
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=Smallness and Bigness Compared=--See DESTRUCTIVENESS.
=Smiles=--See LOVE’S CAREFULNESS; TROUBLE.