Suppose
Suppose your mind a garden were,
All ready for the spring,
And everything you planted there
Would soon be blossoming.
Suppose that evil thoughts were weeds
That rankly grew apace,
And every dream of selfish deeds
Should blossom in disgrace;
While every impulse to be kind,
To ease some other’s woes.
Should bud and blossom in your mind
A fair and fragrant rose.
Suppose that every idle whim.
And every thought of scorn.
Should find its fruitage in a grim
And poison-laden thorn;
While every purpose to uplift
Your soul from sordid ways
Should burst into a snow-white drift
Of tender lily-sprays.
’Tis surely with no danger fraught
Supposing things like this -
And maybe here’s a seed of thought
To flower forth in bliss.
by John Kendrick Bangs: “Songs of Cheer” (1910); type of work: collected poems by a single author in book form
John Kendrick Bangs was born on 27 May 1862 in Yonkers, New York, United States of America. He became a writer, a satirist, an editor, and a lecturer. John Kendrick Bangs passed on at 59 years of age on 21 January 1922 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States of America.
Suppose your mind a garden were,
All ready for the spring,
And everything you planted there
Would soon be blossoming.
Suppose that evil thoughts were weeds
That rankly grew apace,
And every dream of selfish deeds
Should blossom in disgrace;
While every impulse to be kind,
To ease some other’s woes.
Should bud and blossom in your mind
A fair and fragrant rose.
Suppose that every idle whim.
And every thought of scorn.
Should find its fruitage in a grim
And poison-laden thorn;
While every purpose to uplift
Your soul from sordid ways
Should burst into a snow-white drift
Of tender lily-sprays.
’Tis surely with no danger fraught
Supposing things like this -
And maybe here’s a seed of thought
To flower forth in bliss.
by John Kendrick Bangs: “Songs of Cheer” (1910); type of work: collected poems by a single author in book form
John Kendrick Bangs was born on 27 May 1862 in Yonkers, New York, United States of America. He became a writer, a satirist, an editor, and a lecturer. John Kendrick Bangs passed on at 59 years of age on 21 January 1922 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States of America.
