Classic Poem

RHYMES WRITTEN ON MEISSEN CHINA .

Too often the hollow pomp and show
Of people of wealth and fashion,
Excites in the toilers down below
Emotions of envious passion.

We look from our horny, sun-browned hands,
Where the stain of labor lingers,
To the sparkling gems and golden bands
That circle their soft, white fingers,

And wonder how we should feel to live,
Like them, in a round of pleasure,
With all the baubles that gold could give
To amuse our elegant leisure.

With dainty dinners and dainty clothes,
And dainty servants to dress us;
Dainty couches, couleur de rose ,
And dainty friends to caress us.

We do forget that the cup of life
With jewels and gold may glitter,
Though filled with sorrow, and care, and strife,
Till its every drop is bitter.

Forget, as we wearily trudge along,
Bearing our tiresome burden,
That the slow are swift, the weak are strong,
To win the eternal guerdon.

Forget that Jesus, the crucified,
Was homeless, and poor, and lowly:
That common labor was glorified
By His stainless hands, and holy.

Forget, when we suffer wrong and loss,
That God maketh all things even,
That never a soul without a cross
Can enter the gates of Heaven.