Griffith Alexander.

From “The Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger.”

[Illustration:  EDMUND VANCE COOKE]

LAUGH A LITTLE BIT

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”; a little laughter cures many a seeming ill.

  Here’s a motto, just your fit—­
  Laugh a little bit. 
  When you think you’re trouble hit,
  Laugh a little bit. 
  Look misfortune in the face. 
  Brave the beldam’s rude grimace;
  Ten to one ’twill yield its place,
  If you have the wit and grit
  Just to laugh a little bit.

  Keep your face with sunshine lit,
  Laugh a little bit. 
  All the shadows off will flit,
  If you have the grit and wit
  Just to laugh a little bit.

  Cherish this as sacred writ—­
  Laugh a little bit. 
  Keep it with you, sample it,
  Laugh a little bit. 
  Little ills will sure betide you,
  Fortune may not sit beside you,
  Men may mock and fame deride you,
  But you’ll mind them not a whit
  If you laugh a little bit.

Edmund Vance Cooke.

From “A Patch of Pansies.”

A SONG OF LIFE

Many of us merely exist, and think that we live.  What we should regain at all costs is freshness and intensity of being.  This need not involve turbulent activity.  It may involve quite the opposite.

  Say not, “I live!”
    Unless the morning’s trumpet brings
  A shock of glory to your soul,
    Unless the ecstasy that sings
  Through rushing worlds and insects’ wings,
    Sends you upspringing to your goal,
  Glad of the need for toil and strife,
    Eager to grapple hands with Life—­
  Say not, “I live!”

  Say not, “I live!”
    Unless the energy that rings
  Throughout this universe of fire
    A challenge to your spirit flings,
  Here in the world of men and things,
    Thrilling you with a huge desire
  To mate your purpose with the stars,
    To shout with Jupiter and Mars—­
  Say not, “I live!”

  Say not, “I live!”
    Such were a libel on the Plan
  Blazing within the mind of God
    Ere world or star or sun began. 
  Say rather, with your fellow man,
    “I grub; I burrow in the sod.” 
  Life is not life that does not flame
    With consciousness of whence it came—­
  Say not, “I live!”

Angela Morgan.

From “The Hour Has Struck.”

A POOR UNFORTUNATE

Things are never so bad but they might have been worse.  An immigrant into the South paid a negro to bring him a wild turkey.  The next day he complained:  “You shouldn’t shoot at the turkey’s body, Rastus.  Shoot at his head.  The flesh of that turkey was simply full of shot.”  “Boss,” said the negro, “dem shot was meant for me.”