The folks we meet along the road, They are a varied throng-- A pilgrim struggling with his load; The singer of the song; A youth with bright, expectant gaze, His face with hope alight; An old man bowed with many days, And stumbling toward the night. The rich, the poor, the high, the low; The faithless and the true; The face of joy, the form of woe, All pass in grand review We meet, and see their forms no more; But when the eve is gray The sweetest thought we ponder o’er Is whom we’ve helped today. Compensation (1922) For everything that happens wrong A dozen things go right. For every tear a flood of song Rings out across the night. For every dark and stormy day A week of days are fair. However chill the clouds and gray, ’Tis always bright somewhere. For every heart of bitterness A host of hearts are light. For every hour of deep distress A whole long day is bright. For every faithless friend we find That many friends are true. So, after all, God’s mighty kind To such as me and you. A Creed (1922) I DO believe That, while in this old world few things are sure, Right, truth, and love forevermore endure; That these are ’mongst the things most worth our while --A song, a smile, The wiping of a tear from eyes that grieve. I do believe That in the day of famine or of feast That one is richest who has sought the least; That, spite of all earth’s woes, and tears, and pains, Love is, and reigns; And sunshine through the ages Time doth weave. I do believe God plants some seeds of gladness in each day, And smiles on children happy at their play; That living men, though paupers, churls, or slaves, Are more than graves To which the grass and mosses damply cleave. The Engineer (1922) I MUST not be a minute late, Nor yet too hasty be. I have a load of human freight Depending upon me. I know that loving eyes tonight Are all along the line, Waiting to see them each alight-- These passengers of mine. When at the finish of my run I reach the hour of rest I want to think on what I’ve done, And know it was my best. Of hearts that never felt a fear I want to dream tonight, Hearts that were sure the engineer Would bring them through all right. [Illustration of a head crowned with a wreath made from a plant. The person is facing the viewer. A tree (perhaps the source for the wreath) is shown next to the head.] The Flag at Sea (1922) Have you ever felt a craving On the vastness of the sea, To behold the silken waving Of the banner of the free? Have you searched with tired precision, Far from where the land unbars, For a passing moment’s vision Of the flag of stripes and stars?