THORNS AND ROSES by F. E. Weatherly

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 25, 1881

THORNS AND ROSES

By F. E. Weatherly

The Home Circle.

THORNS AND ROSES

FROM morn till night John's hammer rang, The tale of labor telling; But oft he marked with envious eye, Squire Hardy's cozy dwelling. One day the Squire himself came by: "My horse has lost a shoe, John; And that's the least of all my cares— But cares don't come to you, John. The lightning struck my barns last night; My child near death is laid, John; No! life is not what folks suppose; 'Tis not of roses made, John."

And then the Squire rode sadly off. John watched him in amazement, And, as he watched, two faces bright Peeped from the open casement. He heard his wife's voice, sweet and low, His baby's merry laughter; John gave his anvil such a blow, It shook each smoky rafter. "I would not change with Squire," said he, "For all his land and money; There's thorns for him as well as me, But not such roses bonny!" —F. E. Weatherly.