New Year

MORTAL:

'The night is cold, the hour is late, the world is bleak and drear;
Who is it knocking at my door?'

THE NEW YEAR:

'I am Good Cheer.'

MORTAL:

'Your voice is strange; I know you not; in shadows dark I grope.
What seek you here?'

THE NEW YEAR:

'Friend, let me in; my name is Hope.'

MORTAL:

'And mine is Failure; you but mock the life you seek to bless.
Pass on.'

THE NEW YEAR:

'Nay, open wide the door; I am Success.'

MORTAL:

'But I am ill and spent with pain; too late has come your wealth.
I cannot use it.'

THE NEW YEAR:

'Listen, friend; I am Good Health.'

MORTAL:

'Now, wide I fling my door. Come in, and your fair statements
prove.'

THE NEW YEAR:

'But you must open, too, your heart, for I am Love.'