 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
214
SIGH NOT! JOY'S IN SEASON.
I
Sigh not! joy 's in season!Though the world go sometimes wrong,
Can you think to right it,
Drawing faces long?
Laugh, man! think no evil,
Fools alone look always wise:
Sing, man! Nature woos you,
Under sunny skies.
Out, then! out, like childhood!
Mead, grove, glen, and wildwood,
All breathe the breath of heaven, and call you forth to play.
Laugh, man! Laughing's wholesome!
Sing, man! Why so dolesome?
Come close your musty books, and taste the summer day!
II
Wealth wears bird-like pinions,—Flies away, or drowns, or burns;
Fame dies, slain by scorning;
Lost love ne'er returns.
Laugh, man! Harmless pleasure
Lies around us free as air;
Sing, man! Join our chorus,—
Mirth has music rare.
215
Rows best he who 's merry,
While Sadness ever drifts entangled in the stream.
Laugh, man! Laughing 's wholesome;
Sing, man! Why so dolesome?
Bright shines the summer sun—come forth and share its beam!
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |