BETTER to smell the violet Than sip the glowing wine; Better to hearken to a brook Than watch a diamond shine. Better to have a loving friend Than ten admiring foes; Better a daisy's earthy root Than a gorgeous, dying rose. Better to love in loneliness Than bask in love all day; Better the fountain in the heart Than the fountain by the way. Better be fed by mother's hand Than eat alone at will; Better to trust in God, than say, My goods my storehouse fill. Better to be a little wise Than in knowledge to abound; Better to teach a child than toil To fill perfection's round. Better to sit at some man's feet Than thrill a listening state; Better suspect that thou art proud Than be sure that thou art great. Better to walk the realm unseen Than watch the hour's event; Better the @3Well done, faithful slave!@1 Than the air with shoutings rent. Better to have a quiet grief Than many turbulent joys; Better to miss thy manhood's aim Than sacrifice the boy's. Better a death when work is done Than earth's most favoured birth; Better a child in God's great house Than the king of all the earth. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LAMP OF LIFE by AMY LOWELL LINES ON OBSERVING A BLOSSOM [ON THE FIRST OF FEBRUARY 1796] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE A DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO SHEPHERDS IN PRAISE OF ASTRAEA by MARY SIDNEY HERBERT ROSALIND'S MADRIGAL, FR. ROSALIND [ROSALYNDE] by THOMAS LODGE SNAKES, MONGOOSES, SNAKE-CHARMERS, AND THE LIKE by MARIANNE MOORE |