Sighs

" Be serious!" "I'll try!" I said,
And with right spartan sombre decked my face,
And felt deep sadness to my very core,
I racked my heart and mind about problems of the Race.

To be most grave and pensive is manlike, the world says,
And bluffs your fellows to thinking you're wrapped in mighty sense:
I stalked about, and well assumed a truly mournful gaze;
Refused to smile, and met each jest as a low and vain pretence.

But as I mingled with the crowd, I saw a fellow with a similar look,
As though his founts of life were sapped, and he a withered root.
Straight changed at once my broody heart,
capriciously it began to dance:
One glance at him, and lo, behold,
My sides with laughter shook.

O! The concern sat in his eye,
As though the role of endless space
Upon his single thought relied,
And all his steps had hell in trace.

I laughed until I almost burst;
My sides all ached, helpless I was:
That such a petty self had durst
Look black at Cosmos infinite.