William Henry Davies (1871~1940)

The Example

Here's an example from 

A Butterfly; 

That on a rough, hard rock 

Happy can lie; 

Friendless and all alone 

On this unsweetened stone. 

Now let my bed be hard 

No care take I; 

I'll make my joy like this 

Small Butterfly; 

Whose happy heart has power 

To make a stone a flower. 

- 1 -

Francis William Bourdillon (1852 – 1921) 

The Night Has a Thousand Eyes 

THE NIGHT has a thousand eyes, 

And the day but one; 

Yet the light of the bright world dies 

With the dying sun. 

The mind has a thousand eyes,         5

And the heart but one; 

Yet the light of a whole life dies 

When love is done.

- 2 -

W. B. Yeats 

Down By The Salley Gardens 

Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet.

She passed the salley gardens with little snow- white feet.

She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;

But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,

And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow- white hand.

She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;

But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears. 

- 3 -

Edgar Allan Poe. 1809–1849   

Annabel Lee 

IT was many and many a year ago, 

In a kingdom by the sea, 

That a maiden there lived whom you may know 

By the name of Annabel Lee; 

And this maiden she lived with no other thought          5

Than to love and be loved by me. 

I was a child and she was a child, 

In this kingdom by the sea, 

But we loved with a love that was more than love, 

I and my Annabel Lee;   10

With a love that the wingèd seraphs of heaven 

Coveted her and me. 

And this was the reason that, long ago, 

In this kingdom by the sea, 

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling   15

My beautiful Annabel Lee; 

So that her highborn kinsmen came 

And bore her away from me, 

To shut her up in a sepulchre 

In this kingdom by the sea.   20

The angels, not half so happy in heaven, 

Went envying her and me; 

Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, 

In this kingdom by the sea) 

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,   25

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. 

But our love it was stronger by far than the love 

Of those who were older than we, 

- 4 -

Of many far wiser than we; 

And neither the angels in heaven above,   30

Nor the demons down under the sea, 

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: 

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;   35

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; 

And so, all the night- tide, I lie down by the side 

Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, 

In her sepulchre there by the sea

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

- 5 -

Samuel Ullman (1840- 1924)

Youth 

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self- distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child- like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

- 6 -

Madeline Bridges (1844- 1920)

Life's Mirror

There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,

There are souls that are pure and true;

Then give to the world the best that you have,

And the best will come back to you.

Give love, and love to your life will flow,

A strength in your utmost need;

Have faith, and a score of hearts will show

Their faith in your work and deed.

Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind,

And honor will honor meet;

And the smile which is sweet will surely find

A smile that is just as sweet.

Give sorrow and pity to those who mourn;

You will gather in flowers again

The scattered seeds from your thought outborne

Though the sowing seemed but vain.

For life is the mirror of king and slave,

'Tis just what we are and do;

Then give to the world the best that you have

And the best will come back to you.

- 7 -

Dorothy Parker (1893 – 1967)

One Perfect Rose 

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.

All tenderly his messenger he chose;

Deep- hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet—

One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;

'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'

Love long has taken for his amulet

One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet

One perfect limousine, do you suppose?

Ah no, it's always just my luck to get

One perfect rose.

- 8 -

Sara Teasdale

- 9 -

Alchemy

I lift my heart as spring lifts up 

A yellow daisy to the rain; 

My heart will be a lovely cup 

Altho' it holds but pain. 

For I shall learn from flower and leaf 

That color every drop they hold, 

To change the lifeless wine of grief 

To living gold. 

- 10 -

Kahlil Gibran 

On Marriage

You were born together, and together you shall be forever more.

You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.

Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. 

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. 

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

- 11 -

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 – 2001)

The Man and the Child

It is the man in us who works;

Who earns his daily bread and anxious scans

The evening skies to know tomorrow's plans;

It is the man who hurries as he walks;

Finds courage in a crowd, shouts as he talks;

Who shuts his eyes and burrows through his task;

Who doubts his neighbor and who wears a mask;

Who moves in armor and who hides his tears.

It is the man in us who fears.

It is the child in us who plays;

Who sees no happiness beyond today's;

Who sings for joy; who wonders, and who weeps;

It is the child in us at night who sleeps.

It is the child who silent turns his face,

Open and maskless, naked of defense,

Simple with trust, distilled of all pretense,

To sudden beauty in another's face- - - -

It is the child in us who loves.

- 12 -

Veronica A. Shoffstall (1946 -  )

After a while 

After a while you learn

the subtle difference between

holding a hand and chaining a soul

and you learn

that love doesn’t mean leaning

And company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn

that kisses aren’t contracts

and presents aren’t promises

and you begin to accept your defeats

with your head up and your eyes ahead

with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child

and you learn

to build all your roads on today 

because tomorrow’s ground is

too uncertain for plans

and futures have a way of falling down

in mid- flight.

After a while you learn

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much

so you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul

instead of waiting for someone

to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure

you really are strong

you really do have worth

and you learn

and you learn

with every goodbye, you learn… 

- 13 -

Kent M. Keith (1959 ― )

The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self- centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

- 14 -