If after rude and boisterous seas <br />My wearied pinnace here finds ease; <br />If so it be I've gain'd the shore, <br />With safety of a faithful oar; <br />If having run my barque on ground, <br />Ye see the aged vessel crown'd; <br />What's to be done? but on the sands <br />Ye dance and sing, and now clap hands. <br />--The first act's doubtful, but (we say) <br />It is the last commends the Play.<br /><br />Robert Herrick<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-plaudite-or-end-of-life/
