Optimism

OPTIMISM
4644

The world is better than it was
Better today than yesterday-
And each tomorrow still outdoes
The day before it every way

The savage could not read or write,
And naked slept upon the ground;
He only knew to feed and fight,
By lust and murder lowly bound

Barbaric pride was coarsely crude-
The gold still mingled with the dross-
But less than savage was it rude,
And happier for the multitude

The civilized have far to go
Before they reach the highest state,
But still below them-far below-
The greatest of barbaric great

The mightiest Ceasar had no shirt
And without soap he conquered dirt
He rode in wagons without springs
And lacked at least a thousand things
The vagabond enjoys today

His houses had no window pane
His temples were without a bell-
In fact, there’s nothing half so plain
That, after all, the world is well
And progress is a widening way

And ever deaf unto the scorn
Of those dull plodders who revile,
The night shall distance still the morn
Success at last upon you smile
-James Armstrong