And know, beneath the gentle sky,You’d lived a slacker in the strife.That nothing men on earth would findTo mark the spot that you had filled;That you must go and leave behindNo patch of soil your hands had tilled.I know no greater shame than this:To feel that yours were empty years;That after death no man would…
Full many a time has she exclaimed:‘A month ago that suit was new,Now look at all the dreadful stainsThat mar the coat and spoil the vest;It seems to me if you’d take painsYour clothing wouldn’t get so messed.’But I am proud of all those stains,I do not care for garments clean,For every shining mark explainsWhere…
‘Don’t talk to me of the bourjoissee, don’t open your mouth to speakOf your socialists or your anarchists, don’t mention the bolsheveek,For I’ve had enough of this foreign stuff, I’m sick as a man can beOf the speech of hate, and I’m tellin’ you straight that this is the landfor me!‘If you want to brag,…
Tight in a corner an’ knowin’ a lieWould have helped him out, but he wouldn’t buyHis freedom there in so cheap a way-He told the truth though he had to pay.Honest! Not in the easy sense,When he needn’t worry about expense-We’ll all play square when it doesn’t countAnd the sum at stake’s not a large…
An’ every bush with roses clad,An’ nature in her finest suit,An’ all things as they used to beIn days before the war came on.Yet time has changed both him an’ me,An’ I am here, but he is gone.The orchard’s as it was back thenWhen he was just a little tyke;The lake’s as calm an’ fair…
He wore the cleric’s broadcloth and he hooked his vest behind,But he had a man’s religion and he had a strong man’s mind,And he heard the call to duty, and he quit his church and went,And he bravely tramped right with ’em everywhere the boys were sent.He put aside his broadcloth and he put the…
The god of fortune is in truthA vision and an empty name.The toiler who through doubt and careUnto his goal and victory plods,With no one need his glory share:He is himself his favoring gods.There are no gods that will bestowEarth’s joys and blessings on a man.Each one must choose the path he’ll go,Then win from…
I used to hold him in my arms to watch when our canary sang,And now tonight he tells me that he’s leader of his gang.It seems but yesterday, I vow, that I with fear was almost dumb,Living those dreadful hours of care waiting the time for him to come;And I can still recall the thrill…
Night after night she cooled a fevered head,Day after day she guarded little feet,Taught little minds the dangers of the street,Taught little lips to utter simple prayers,Whispered of strength that some day would be theirs,And trained them all to use it as they should.She gave her babies to the nation’s good.She mothered five!She gave her…
Laughter is best;Sing through the night of it.Swiftly the tearAnd the hurt and the ache of itFind us down here;Life must be what we make of it.Life is a song;Let us dance to the thrill of it.Grief’s hours are long,And cold is the chill of it.Joy is man’s need;Let us smile for the sake of…
