Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE VEILED FUTURE by WALT MASON

First Line: WE KNOW NOT WHAT A DAY SHALL BRING, WHAT
Last Line: LET US SING, AND THROW OUR HATS ON HIGH.
Subject(s): FUTURE;

WE know not what a day shall bring, what brand of weal or woe; so let us smile
and let us sing, and trip fantastic toe. We may feel sure tomorrow's sun will
hide, the whole day long; and when all things are said and done, our guesses
will be wrong. We may insist that dark green grief tomorrow's brow will wear;
and yet the dawn may bring relief from all the woes we bear. No man should look

ahead and say, "Tomorrow is a frost, so I shall wail around today, and weep, and

blame the cost." And so, as I have often said, in dirges fierce but brief, it's

foolishment to look ahead for further stores of grief. It's vain to rend our
beards and say, "Tomorrow's charged with fate"; far better to enjoy today,
before it pulls its freight. This day is ours, this cheerful morn; all
yesterdays are dead; all other days are yet unborn, the stretch of days ahead.
This day is ours, the dear, sweet thing, until it ambles by; so let us dance and

let us sing, and throw our hats on high.



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