THE DIAL’S MOTTO.
I.
A butterfly to a dial exclaimed,
“How short is the period of sun!
And how few are the cheering hours of light
Before brightness of day is done!”
II.
“Oh! if only the sun would always shine,
And its greatest power maintain,
No reason to grumble then could be mine,
And no wish to ever complain.”
III.
A moth by chance overheard the remark,
And answered, “I’d have you to know
I hate the day and I long for the dark,
And I wish that all hours were so.”
IV.
“I delight in the cooling breath of night,
And I long for the close of day;
I wish I could shorten the hours of light,
And then hasten each sunset ray.”
V.
They both gazed in turn at the sundial bold,
And each read in motto God’s plan:
“I created the light and dark of old,
Proportioned for all that this world should hold
From the insect that flies to man.”
T. G. W. H.