“This is a favorite little poem of mine, Aunt Sarah.  I’ll just write it on this blank page in your book.”

There’s a little splash of sunshine and a little spot of shade, always somewhere near, The wise bask in the sunshine, but the foolish choose the shade.  The wise are gay and happy, on the foolish, sorrow’s laid, And the fault’s their own, I fear.

    For the little splash of sunshine and the little spot of shade
    Are here for joint consumption, for comparison are made;
    We’re all meant to be happy, not too foolish or too staid. 
    And the right dose to be taken is some sunshine mixed with shade.

“Aunt Sarah, I see there is still space on this page to write another poem, a favorite of mine.  It is called, ‘Be Strong,’ by Maltbie Davenport.”

        Be Strong! 
        We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
        We have hard word to do, and loads to lift,
        Shun not the struggle; face it, ’tis God’s gift.

        Be Strong! 
        Say not the days are evil—­who’s to blame? 
        And fold the hands and acquiesce—­Oh, shame! 
        Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.

        Be Strong! 
        It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
        How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
        Faint not, fight on!  Tomorrow comes the song,

LIFE’S COMMON THINGS.

        How lovely are life’s common things. 
          When health flows in the veins;
        The golden sunshine of the days
          When Phoebus holds the reins;

        The floating clouds against the blue;
          The fragrance of the air;
        The nodding flowers by the way;
          The green grass everywhere;

        The feathery beauty of the elm,
          With graceful-swaying boughs. 
        Where nesting songbirds find a home
          And the night wind sighs and soughs;

        The hazy blue of distant hill,
          With wooded slope and crest;
        The crimson sky when low at night
          The sun sinks in the West;

        The thrilling grandeur of the storm,
          The lightning’s vivid flash,
        The mighty rush of wind and rain,
          The thunder’s awful crash.

        And then the calm that follows storm,
          And rainbow in the sky;
        The rain-washed freshness of the earth—­
          A singing bird near by.

        And oh, the beauty of the night! 
          Its hush, its thrill, its charm;
        The twinkling brilliance of its stars;
          Its tranquil peace and calm.

        Oh, loving fatherhood of God
          To give us every day
        The lovely common things of life
          To brighten all the way!