'Tis Well to Have a Merry Heart

'Tis Well to Have a Merry Heart

'Tis well to have a merry heart,

However short we stay;

There's wisdom in a merry heart,

Whate'er the world may say!

Philosophy may lift its head,

And find out many a flaw,

But give me that philosophy

That's happy with a straw!

If life but brings us happiness,

It brings us, we are told,

What's hard to buy, though rich ones try

With all their heaps of gold.

Then laugh away—let others say

Whate'er they will of mirth;

Who laughs the most may truly say

He's got the wealth of the earth.

There's beauty in a hearty laugh—

A moral beauty, too;

It show's the heart's an honest heart,

That's paid each man his due,

And lent a share of what's to spare,

Despite of wisdom's fears,

And made the cheek less sorrow speak,

The eye weeps fewer tears.

The sun may shroud itself in cloud,

The tempest wrath begin;

It finds a spark to cheer the dark,

Its sunlight is within!

Then laugh away, let others say

Whate'er they will of mirth;

Who laughs the most may truly boast

He's got the wealth of earth!

Charles Swain

1:47, p. 1

6.9.1860