Songs 14

¹While others crowd the house of mirth,

and haunt the gaudy show,

Let such as would with Wisdom dwell,

frequent the house of woe.

²Better to weep with those who weep,

and share th’ afflicted’s smart,

Than mix with fools in giddy joys

that cheat and wound the heart.

³When virtuous sorrow clouds the face,

and tears bedim the eye,

The soul is led to solemn thought,

and wafted to the sky.

⁴The wise in heart revisit oft

grief’s dark sequester’d cell;

The thoughtless still with levity

and mirth delight to dwell.

⁵The noisy laughter of the fool

is like the crackling sound

Of blazing thorns, which quickly fall

in ashes to the ground.