WHICH was the true philosopher? -- the sage Who to the sorrows and the crimes of life Gave tears -- or he who laugh'd at all he saw? Such mockery is bitter, and yet just: And Heaven well knows the cause there is to weep. Methinks that life is what the actor is -- Outside there is the quaint and gibing mask; Beneath, the pale and careworn countenance. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A MORTIFYING MISTAKE by ANNA MARIA PRATT EPILOGUE TO LESSING'S LAOCOON by MATTHEW ARNOLD UMBRAE PUELLULARUM by WILLIAM ROSE BENET VERDANT GREEN AND THE CROW by ROBERT BRUCE DEAD OUT-OF-DOORS by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |