WHICH was the true philosopher? -- the sage Who to the sorrows and the crimes of life Gave tears -- or he who laugh'd at all he saw? Such mockery is bitter, and yet just: And Heaven well knows the cause there is to weep. Methinks that life is what the actor is -- Outside there is the quaint and gibing mask; Beneath, the pale and careworn countenance. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: MAGRADY GRAHAM by EDGAR LEE MASTERS ROUGE BOUQUET [MARCH 7, 1918] by ALFRED JOYCE KILMER THE BARD'S ANNUAL DEFIANCE by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS AN INVITATION by MRS. RALPH BLACK MOONLIGHT IN SUMMER by ROBERT BLOOMFIELD A NEW PILGRIMAGE: 29 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |