That which we had we still possess, <br />Though leaves may drop and stars may fall; <br />No circumstance can make it less <br />Or take it from us, all in all. <br /> <br />That which is lost we did not own; <br />We only held it for a day-- <br />A leaf by careless breezes blown: <br />No fate could take our own away. <br /> <br />I hold it as a changeless law <br />From which no soul can ever sway or swerve, <br />We have that in us which will draw <br />Whate'er we need or most deserve. <br /> <br />Even as the magnet to the steel <br />Our souls are to the best desires; <br />The Fates have hearts and they can feel-- <br />They know what each true heart requires. <br /> <br />We think we lose when most we gain; <br />We call joys ended ere begun; <br />When stars fade out do skies complain, <br />Or glory in the rising sun? <br /> <br />No fate could rob us of our own-- <br />No circumstance can make it less; <br />What time removes was but a loan, <br />For what was ours we still possess.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/possession/
