“If All the Skies”

                                                                                                                            Henry Van Dyke


                                                                                                                                                  If all the skies were sunshine,
                                                                                                                     Our faces would be faint

                                                                                         To feel once more upon them

                                                                           The cooling splash of rain.


                                                     If all the world were music,

                                 Our hearts would often long

                               For one sweet strain of silence,

                                                      To break the endless song.


                                                                            If life were always merry,

                                                                                           Our souls would seek relief,

                                                                                                                And rest from weary laughter
                                                                                                                                                     In the quiet arms of grief.