Life has its shadows, as well as its sun; <br /> Its lights and its shades, all twined together. <br />I tried to single them out, one by one, <br /> Single and count them, determining whether <br />There was less blue than there was grey, <br />And more of the deep night than of the day. <br />But dear me, dear me, my task’s but begun, <br />And I am not half way into the sun. <br /> <br />For the longer I look on the bright side of earth, <br /> The more of the beautiful do I discover; <br />And really, I never knew what life was worth <br /> Till I searched the wide storehouse of happiness over. <br />It is filled from the cellar well up to the skies, <br />With things meant to gladden the heart and the eyes. <br />The doors are unlocked, you can enter each room, <br />That lies like a beautiful garden in bloom. <br /> <br />Yet life has its shadow, as well as its sun; <br /> Earth has its storehouse of joy and sorrow. <br />But the first is so wide – and my task’s but begun – <br /> That the last must be left for a far-distant morrow. <br />I will count up the blessings God gave in a row, <br />But dear me! When I get through them, I know <br />I shall have little tine left for the rest, <br />For life is a swift-flowing river at best.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sunshine-and-shadow/
