Esther, A Sonnet Sequence: III

A little honey! Ay, a little sweet,

A little pleasure when the years were young,

A joyous measure trod by dancing feet,

A tale of folly told by a loved tongue.

These are the things by which our hearts are wrung

More than by tears. Oh, I would rather laugh,

So I had not to choose such tales among

Which was most laughable. Man's nobler half

Resents mere sorrow. I would rather sit

With just the common crowd that watch the play

And mock at harlequin and the clown's wit,

And call it tragedy and go my way.

I should not err, because the tragic part

Lay not in these, but sealed in my own heart.