Maurine And Other Poems/“Advice”

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
2193505Maurine And Other Poems — “Advice”1910Ella Wheeler Wilcox


I must do as you do? Your way I own
  Is a very good way. And still,
There are sometimes two straight roads to a town,
  One over, one under the hill.

You are treading the safe and the well-worn way,
  That the prudent choose each time;
And you think me reckless and rash to-day,
  Because I prefer to climb.

Your path is the right one, and so is mine.
  We are not like peas in a pod,
Compelled to lie in a certain line,
  Or else be scattered abroad.

’Twere a dull old world, methinks, my friend,
  If we all went just one way;
Yet our paths will meet no doubt at the end,
  Though they lead apart to-day.

You like the shade, and I like the sun;
  You like an even pace,
I like to mix with the crowd and run,
  And then rest after the race.

I like danger, and storm and strife,
  You like a peaceful time;
I like the passion and surge of life,
  You like its gentle rhyme.

You like buttercups, dewy sweet,
  And crocuses, framed in snow;
I like roses, born of the heat,
  And the red carnation’s glow.

I must live my life, not yours, my friend,
  For so it was written down;
We must follow our given paths to the end,
  But I trust we shall meet—in town.