Like a bread without the spreadin', Like a puddin' without sauce, Like a mattress without beddin', Like a cart without a hoss, Like a door without a latchstring, Like a fence without a stile, Like a dry an' barren creek bed -- Is the face without a smile. Like a house without a dooryard, Like a yard without a flower, Like a clock without a mainspring, That will never tell the hour; A thing that sort o' makes yo' feel A hunger all the while -- Oh, the saddest sight that ever was Is a face without a smile! The face of man was built for smiles, An' thereby he is blest Above the critters of the field, The birds an' all the rest; He's just a little lower Than the angels in the skies, An' the reason is that he can smile; Therein his glory lies! So smile an' don't forgit to smile, An' smile, an' smile ag'in; 'Twill help you all along the way, An' cheer you mile by mile; An' so, whatever is your lot, Jes' smile, an' smile, an' smile. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 15 by CONRAD AIKEN CONTRA MORTEM: THE WATER by HAYDEN CARRUTH FUGUE FOR A DROWNED GIRL by JAMES GALVIN ON THE PROPOSAL TO ERECT A MONUMENT IN ENGLAND TO LORD BYRON by EMMA LAZARUS AGING TOGETHER by CLARENCE MAJOR THE BLIND by EDGAR LEE MASTERS GOLDWING MOTH by CARL SANDBURG |