Is It Wise?

[Stevie Smith, 1937]

Is it wise

To hug misery

To make a song of Melancholy

To weave a garland of sighs

To abandon hope wholly?

No, it is not wise.

Is it wise

To love Mortality

To make a song of Corruptibility

A chain of linked lies

To bind Mutability?

No, it is not wise.

Is it wise

To endure

To call up Old Fury

And Pain for a martyr's dowry

When Death's a prize

Easy to carry?

No, it is not wise.