The Chain of Lilies, and other poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

Ten thousand tongues bespeak the soul,
In nature and in life;
Some talk to passion of control,
And patience amid strife:
Some say, Be kind; some say, Be strong;
Some, Keep a watchful eye;
Some, Time is short and Art is long;
But none, Lie down to die!

There's no such whisper in the air
From sky, or field, or river:
You never heard it anywhere,
If you're an honest liver;
The Fiend may have such things to say—
He knows the reason why—
And people who will pass his way
Get beckon'd off to die.

But as for you and me, my dear,
We go another road;
When trouble comes we will not fear—
A jewel's in the toad!
Come, help me to pick up our hopes
And bear them well on high;
Smelfungus gropes, Mundungus mopes—
We give them leave to die.

I see some fairies in the fire,
At kindly incantation;
I hear a bird upon a brier,
Which sings of consolation;
I see a castle in the air,
A rainbow the black sky in—
We won't let Mrs. Grundy stare
At you and me a-dying!