VERSE: FRIEND SORROW
Reading edition
Do not cheat thy Heart and tell her, “Grief will pass away, Hope for fairer times in future, And forget to-day.”— Tell her, if you will, that sorrow Need not come in vain; Tell her that the lesson taught her Far outweighs the pain.
Cheat her not with the old comfort, “Soon she will forget”— Bitter truth, alas—but matter Rather for regret; Bid her not “Seek other pleasures, Turn to other things:”— Rather nurse her cagèd sorrow ’Till the captive sings.
Rather bid her go forth bravely. And the stranger greet; Not as foe, with spear and buckler, But as dear friends meet; Bid her with a strong clasp hold her, By her dusky wings— Listening for the murmured blessing Sorrow always brings.