Oh, my shoulders grow aweary of the burdens I am bearin', An' I grumble when I'm footsore at the rough road I am farin', But I strap my knapsack tighter till I feel the leather bind me, An' I'm glad to bear the burdens for the ones who come behind me. It's for them that I am ploddin', for the children comin' after; I would strew their path with roses and would fill their days with laughter. Oh, there's selfishness within me, there are times it gets to talkin', Times I hear it whisper to me, "It's a dusty road you're walkin'; Why not rest your feet a little; why not pause an' take your leisure? Don't you hunger in your strivin' for the merry whirl of pleasure?" Then I turn an' see them smilin' an' I grip my burdens tighter, For the joy that I am seekin' is to see their eyes grow brighter. Oh, I've sipped the cup of sorrow an' I've felt the gad of trouble, An' I know the hurt of trudgin' through a field o'errun with stubble; But a rougher road to travel had my father good before me, An' I'm owin' all my gladness to the tasks he shouldered for me. Oh, I didn't understand it, when a lad I played about him, But he labored for my safety in the days I'd be without him. Oh, my kindly father never gave himself a year of leisure -- Never lived one selfish moment, never turned aside for pleasure -- Though he must have grown aweary of the burdens he was bearin'; He was tryin' hard to better every road I'd soon be farin'. Now I turn an' see them smilin' an' I hear their merry laughter, An' I'm glad to bear the burdens for the ones that follow after. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RUBAIYAT, 1879 EDITION: 17 by OMAR KHAYYAM IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 130 by ALFRED TENNYSON INTO THE TWILIGHT by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE INCENSE BURNER by ABUS SALT DAY AND NIGHT by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH LAPLAND by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |