To happiness I raise my glass, <br /> The goal of every human, <br /> The hope of every clan and class <br /> And every man and woman. <br /> The daydreams of the urchin there, <br /> The sweet theme of the maiden's prayer, <br /> The strong man's one ambition, <br /> The sacred prize of mothers sweet, <br /> The tramp of soldiers on the street <br /> Have all the selfsame mission. <br /> Life here is nothing more or less <br /> Than just a quest for happiness. <br /> <br /> Some seek it on the mountain top, <br /> And some within a mine; <br /> The widow in her notion shop <br /> Expects its sun to shine. <br /> The tramp that seeks new roads to fare, <br /> Is one with king and millionaire <br /> In this that each is groping <br /> On different roads, in different ways, <br /> To come to glad, contented days, <br /> And shares the common hoping. <br /> The sound of martial fife and drum <br /> Is born of happiness to come. <br /> <br /> Yet happiness is always here <br /> Had we the eyes to see it; <br /> No breast but holds a fund of cheer <br /> Had man the will to free it. <br /> 'Tis there upon the mountain top, <br /> Or in the widow's notion shop, <br /> 'Tis found in homes of sorrow; <br /> 'Tis woven in the memories <br /> Of happier, brighter days than these, <br /> The gift, not of to-morrow <br /> But of to-day, and in our tears <br /> Some touch of happiness appears. <br /> <br /> 'Tis not a joy that's born of wealth: <br /> The poor man may possess it. <br /> 'Tis not alone the prize of health: <br /> No sickness can repress it. <br /> 'Tis not the end of mortal strife, <br /> The sunset of the day of life, <br /> Or but the old should find it; <br /> It is the bond twixt God and man, <br /> The touch divine in all we plan, <br /> And has the soul behind it. <br /> And so this toast to happiness, <br /> The seed of which we all possess.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-toast-to-happiness/
