IF WE KNEW.

IF WE KNEW.
294.6

If we knew the cares and crosses
Crowding round our neighbor’s way;
If we knew the little losses,
Sorely grievous, day by day;
Would we then so often chide him
For his lack of thrift and gain,
Leaving on his hearth a shadow,
Leaving on his life a stain?

If we knew the clouds above us,
Held by gentle blessings there,
Would we turn away all trembling,
In our blind and weak despair?
Would we shrink from little shadows,
Lying on the dewy grass
While ’tis only birds in Eden
Just in mercy flying past?

If we knew the silent story
Quivering through the heart of pain,
Would our manhood dare to doom them
Back to haunts of guilt again?
Life hath many a tangled crossing,
Joy hath many a break of woe,
And the cheek tear-stained is whitest- This the blessed angels know.