The Books

I.

Close the book and put it by!
What it held of song and sigh,
What it held of smile and tear
Laughs and sorrows through the year!
Pages dark and pages fair
Each to each are wedded there,
And no sage e'er understood
What was evil, what was good!

II.

Close the life and put it by!
It was made of song and sigh,
It was made of smiles and tears
And the struggles of the years!
Days of dark and days of fair
Closely came and blended there,
And but He who judges could
Know the evil and the good!