HE NEVER EXPECTED MUCH

Well, World, you have kept faith with me, 

Kept faith with me; 

Upon the whole you have proved to be 

Much as you said you were. 

Since as a child I used to lie 

Upon the leaze and watch the sky, 

Never, I own, expected I 

That life would all be fair. 

'Twas then you said, and since have said, 

Times since have said, 

In that mysterious voice you shed 

From clouds and hills around: 

"Many have loved me desperately, 

Many with smooth serenity, 

While some have shown contempt of me 

Till they dropped underground. 

"I do not promise overmuch, 

Child; overmuch; 

Just neutral-tinted haps and such," 

You said to minds like mine. 

Wise warning for your credit's sake! 

Which I for one failed not to take, 

And hence could stem such strain and ache 

As each year might assign. 

-o0o-

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