A Passing Hail
Let us rest ourselves a bit!
Worry?— wave your hand to it — Kiss your finger-tips and smile It farewell a little while.
Weary of the weary way We have come from Yesterday,
Let us fret not, instead,
Of the wary way ahead.
Let us pause and catch our breath On the hither side of death,
While we see the tender shoots Of the grasses — not the roots,—While we yet look down — not up — To seek out the buttercup And the daisy where they wave O'er the green home of the grave.
Let us launch us smoothly on The soft billows of the lawn,
And drift out across the main Of our childish dreams again:
Voyage off, beneath the trees,
O'er the field's enchanted seas,
Where the lilies are our sails,
And our sea-gulls, nightingales:
Where no wilder storm shall beat Than the wind that waves the wheat,
And no tempest-burst above The old laughs we used to love:
Lose all troubles — gain release,
Languor, and exceeding peace,
Cruising idly o'er the vast,
Calm mid-ocean of the Past.
Let us rest ourselves a bit!
Worry? — Wave your hand to it — Kiss your finger-tips and smile It fare well a little while.
James Whitcomb Riley
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