There are hermit souls that live withdrawn <br />In the place of their self-content; <br />There are souls like stars, that dwell apart, <br />In a fellowless firmament; <br />There are pioneer souls that blaze the paths <br />Where highways never ran- <br />But let me live by the side of the road <br />And be a friend to man. <br /> <br />Let me live in a house by the side of the road <br />Where the race of men go by- <br />The men who are good and the men who are bad, <br />As good and as bad as I. <br />I would not sit in the scorner's seat <br />Nor hurl the cynic's ban- <br />Let me live in a house by the side of the road <br />And be a friend to man. <br /> <br />I see from my house by the side of the road <br />By the side of the highway of life, <br />The men who press with the ardor of hope, <br />The men who are faint with the strife, <br />But I turn not away from their smiles and tears, <br />Both parts of an infinite plan- <br />Let me live in a house by the side of the road <br />And be a friend to man. <br /> <br />I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead, <br />And mountains of wearisome height; <br />That the road passes on through the long afternoon <br />And stretches away to the night. <br />And still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice <br />And weep with the strangers that moan, <br />Nor live in my house by the side of the road <br />Like a man who dwells alone. <br /> <br />Let me live in my house by the side of the road, <br />Where the race of men go by- <br />They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong, <br />Wise, foolish - so am I. <br />Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat, <br />Or hurl the cynic's ban? <br />Let me live in my house by the side of the road <br />And be a friend to man.<br /><br />Sam Walter Foss<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-house-by-the-side-of-the-road-2/
