Better Things

Better to smell the violet         Than sip the glowing wine;         Better to hearken to a brook         Than watch a diamond shine.         Better to have a loving friend         Than ten admiring foes;         Better a daisy's earthy root         Than a gorgeous, dying rose.         Better to love in loneliness         Than bask in love all day;         Better the fountain in the heart         Than the fountain by the way.         Better be fed by mother's hand         Than eat alone at will;         Better to trust in God, than say,         My goods my storehouse fill.         Better to be a little wise         Than in knowledge to abound;         Better to teach a child than toil         To fill perfection's round.         Better to sit at some man's feet         Than thrill a listening state;         Better suspect that thou art proud         Than be sure that thou art great.         Better to walk the realm unseen         Than watch the hour's event;         Better the Well done, faithful slave!         Than the air with shoutings rent.         Better to have a quiet grief         Than many turbulent joys;         Better to miss thy manhood's aim         Than sacrifice the boy's.         Better a death when work is done         Than earth's most favoured birth;         Better a child in God's great house         Than the king of all the earth.