poem by Mrs. Naidu (of India)

Nay, do not weep, though life be filled with sadness.
Dawn will not veil her splendor for thy grief;
Nor spring withhold its self-appointed beauty from lily blossom or ashaka leaf.
Nay, do not pine, though life is full of trouble.
Time will not pause or tarry on its way.
Today, that seems so long, so strange, so bitter, will soon be some forgotten yesterday.
Nay, do not weep.
New hopes, new dreams, new faces, the unborn joys of all the coming years, will prove thy heart a traitor to its sorrow, and make thine eyes unfaithful to their tears.
 

poem by William A. Percy

I heard a bird at break of day
sing from the autumn trees a song so mystical and calm,
so full of certainties, no man, I think, can listen long
except upon his knees.
Yet, this was but a simple bird, alone, among dead trees.