Classic Poem

What is hope? A smiling rainbow
Children follow through the wet;
'Tis not here, still yonder, yonder,
Never urchin found it yet.

What is life? A thawing iceboard
On a sea with sunny shore;
Gay we sail; it melts beneath us;
We are sunk and seen no more.

What is man? A foolish baby,
Vainly strives and fights and frets;
Demanding all, deserving nothing;
One small grave is all he gets.