If this were all of life we'll know, <br /> If this brief space of breath <br />Were all there is to human toil, <br /> If death were really death, <br />And never should the soul arise <br /> A finer world to see, <br />How foolish would our struggles seem, <br /> How grim the earth would be! <br /> <br />If living were the whole of life, <br /> To end in seventy years, <br />How pitiful its joys would seem! <br /> How idle all its tears! <br />There'd be no faith to keep us true, <br /> No hope to keep us strong, <br />And only fools would cherish dreams— <br /> No smile would last for long. <br /> <br />How purposeless the strife would be <br /> If there were nothing more, <br />If there were not a plan to serve, <br /> An end to struggle for! <br />No reason for a mortal's birth <br /> Except to have him die— <br />How silly all the goals would seem <br /> For which men bravely try. <br /> <br />There must be something after death; <br /> Behind the toil of man <br />There must exist a God divine <br /> Who's working out a plan; <br />And this brief journey that we know <br /> As life must really be <br />The gateway to a finer world <br /> That some day we shall see.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/if-this-were-all/
