Poems (Himburg)/Bitter and sweet

BITTER AND SWEET
The sorrows of life may be many,
But we know that joy is in store,
For the hope that lies within our hearts
Has told us o'er and o'er.

Though sorrows may often surround us,
We will not let them remain.
The birds may depart in winter,
But they always return with the spring.

The flowers may lose all their beauty,
Their fragrance of sweetness we miss.
They follow the law of nature,
To sleep in the land of bliss.

Though the winters howe'er unpleasant,
We know will not always last,
We look to the present
And not the future or past.

And so we think 'twere better
To take the bitter as well as sweet,
For were all felicity,
And we had no crosses to bear,
What need would there be of victory,
Or heaven fair.