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| My Neighbor's Roses |
The roses red upon my neighbor's vine
Are owned by him, but they are also mine.
His was the cost, and his the labor, too,
But mine as well as his the joy, their loveliness to
They bloom for me and are for me as fair
As for the man who gives them all his care.
Thus I am rich because a good man grew
A rose-clad vine for all his neighbors' view.
I know from this that others plant for me,
And what they own my joy may also be;
So why be selfish when so much that's fine
Is grown for you upon your neighbor's vine
And here is
My Neighbor's Reply
Your neighbor, sir, whose roses you admire,
Is glad indeed to know that they inspire
Within your breast a feeling quite as fine
As felt by him who owns and tends that vine.
That those fair flowers should give my neighbors joy
But swells my own, and draws therefrom alloy
Which would lessen its full worth, did I not know
That others' pleasure in the flowers grow.
Friend, from my neighbors and this vine I've learned
That sharing pleasure means a profit turned;
And he who shares the joy in what he's grown
Spreads joy abroad and doubles all his own.
-- A.L. Gruber |
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