IF life were never bitter, And love were always sweet, Then who would care to borrow A moral from to-morrow -- If Thames would always glitter, And joy would ne'er retreat, If life were never bitter, And love were always sweet! If care were not the waiter Behind a fellow's chair, When easy-going sinners Sit down to Richmond dinners, And life's swift stream flows straighter, By Jove, it would be rare, If care were not the waiter Behind a fellow's chair. If wit were always radiant, And wine were always iced, And bores were kicked out straightway Through a convenient gateway; Then down the year's long gradient 'Twere sad to be enticed, If wit were always radiant, And wine were always iced. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I MAY, I MIGHT, I MUST by MARIANNE MOORE THE BAT by CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON THE PILGRIM FATHERS by JOHN PIERPONT THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 69. AUTUMN IDLENESS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE MAY QUEEN by ALFRED TENNYSON CITY LYRICS by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS FELDMESTEN OR MEASURING THE GRAVES by ALTER ABELSON |