 | Poetical works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox |  |
PENALTY
Because of the fullness of what I had,
All that I have seems poor and vain.
If I had not been happy, I were not sad—
Tho' my salt is savourless, why complain?
All that I have seems poor and vain.
If I had not been happy, I were not sad—
Tho' my salt is savourless, why complain?
From the ripe perfection of what was mine,
All that is mine seems worse than naught;
Yet I know, as I sit in the dark and pine,
No cup could be drained which had not been fraught.
All that is mine seems worse than naught;
Yet I know, as I sit in the dark and pine,
No cup could be drained which had not been fraught.
From the throb and thrill of a day that was,
The day that now is seems dull with gloom;
Yet I bear the dullness and darkness, because
'Tis but the reaction of glow and bloom.
The day that now is seems dull with gloom;
Yet I bear the dullness and darkness, because
'Tis but the reaction of glow and bloom.
From the royal feast that of old was spread
I am starved on the diet that now is mine;
Yet, I could not turn hungry from water and bread
If I had not been sated on fruit and wine.
I am starved on the diet that now is mine;
Yet, I could not turn hungry from water and bread
If I had not been sated on fruit and wine.
| Poetical works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox | |