LIFE LINES (From Here and There)

 

LIFE LINES (From Here and There)

      1.What is this life, if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare.

 

2. Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream !

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

“Dust thou art, to dust returnest,”

Was not spoken of the soul.

 

3. Life is short; art is long.

 

4. Is life worth living? Yes, so long

As ere is wrong to right,

Wail of the weak against the strong,

Or tyranny to fight ;

Long as there lingers gloom to chase,

Or streaming tear to dry,

One kindred woe, one sorrowing face

That smiles as we draw nigh;

Long as at tale of anguish swells

The heart, and lids grow wet

And at the sound of Christmas bells

We pardon and forget;

So long as Faith with Freedom reigns,

And loyal Hope survives,

And gracious charity remains

To leaven lowly lives;

While there is one untrodden tract

For Intellect or Will,

And men are free to think and act,

Life is worth living still.

(The title of this poem is: Is Life Worth Living? And it is written by Alfred Austin (1835-1912).

             

5. I live for those who love me,

Whose hearts are kind and true;

For the heaven that smiles above me,

And awaits my spirit too;

For all human ties that bind me,

For the task by God assigned me ,

And the good that I can do.

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G.R.Kanwal

30 November 2025