The Fool Told to Cheer Up

 One who is all the time quite kind said once:
 "Your own girl's hair has threads of grey for once,
 And those small shades have come now near her eyes;
 Time can but make it less hard to be wise
 Though now it seems that this can't be, and so
 All that you need to do is wait."  Heart cries, "No,
 I've not a crumb of cheer--no, not a grain.
 Time can but make her looks come back the same:
 Since she has these great airs of hers
 The flame that stirs all round her, when she stirs,
 Burns but more clear.  O she had not these ways
 When all the wild mid year was in her gaze."
 Heart! O heart! if she'd but raise head up,
 You'd know who is the fool when told, "Cheer up."

                                -- Will Yeats

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