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WHO BIDES HIS TIME

Who bides his time, and day by day
  Faces defeat full patiently,
And lifts a mirthful roundelay,
  However poor his fortunes be,—­
He will not fail in any qualm
  Of poverty—­the paltry clime
It will grow golden in his palm,
  Who bides his time.

Who bides his time—­he tastes the sweet
  Of honey in the saltest tear;
And though he fares with slowest feet,
  Joy runs to meet him, drawing near;
The birds are heralds of his cause;
  And, like a never-ending rhyme,
The roadsides bloom in his applause,
  Who bides his time.

Who bides his time, and fevers not
  In the hot race that none achieves,
Shall wear cool-wreathen laurel, wrought
  With crimson berries in the leaves;
And he shall reign a goodly king,
  And sway his hand o’er every clime,
With peace writ on his signet-ring,
  Who bides his time.

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NATURAL PERVERSITIES

I am not prone to moralize
  In scientific doubt
On certain facts that Nature tries
  To puzzle us about,—­
For I am no philosopher
  Of wise elucidation,
But speak of things as they occur,
  From simple observation.

I notice little things—­to wit:—­
  I never missed a train
Because I didn’t run for it;
  I never knew it rain
That my umbrella wasn’t lent,—­
  Or, when in my possession,
The sun but wore, to all intent,
  A jocular expression.

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I never knew a creditor
  To dun me for a debt
But I was “cramped” or “busted;” or
  I never knew one yet,
When I had plenty in my purse,
  To make the least invasion,—­
As I, accordingly perverse,
  Have courted no occasion.

Nor do I claim to comprehend
  What Nature has in view
In giving us the very friend
  To trust we oughtn’t to.—­
But so it is:  The trusty gun
  Disastrously exploded
Is always sure to be the one
  We didn’t think was loaded.

Our moaning is another’s mirth,—­
  And what is worse by half,
We say the funniest thing on earth
  And never raise a laugh: 
Mid friends that love us overwell,
  And sparkling jests and liquor,
Our hearts somehow are liable
  To melt in tears the quicker.

We reach the wrong when most we seek
  The right; in like effect,
We stay the strong and not the weak—­
  Do most when we neglect.—­
Neglected genius—­truth be said—­
  As wild and quick as tinder,
The more we seek to help ahead
  The more we seem to hinder.

I’ve known the least the greatest, too—­
  And, on the selfsame plan,
The biggest fool I ever knew
  Was quite a little man: 
We find we ought, and then we won’t—­
  We prove a thing, then doubt it,—­
Know everything but when we don’t
  Know anything about it.