Poem by Lucy Larcom

Burdened

No burden ever had I
That I would not have had;
Though times there were when I thought never again
To look up to heaven and be glad.
For, groaning and struggling on
With the throngs that laden go,
I saw, by the pack on my neighbor's back,
That mine was the lighter woe.

Unladen, heedless, unbent,
I never had known
That the fardel borne by each wight forlorn
Held something that was my own;
Something he bore for me
With a patient ignorance,
While my footprints lay as a blur on his way,
And hindered his soul's advance.

Just it was that on me
Some sorrow should fall;
No trouble alone is the trouble of one,
But each has a share in all.
And if on my aching neck
Another his burden laid,
Strength given for his day then he threw away,
Wherewith I was stronger made.

I know that we are not here
For our selfish ease;
The kingliest One that the earth has known
Lived not Himself to please.
And they who have learned of Him
How a burden can give rest,
And joyfully share the great human care, —
They have learned life's secret best.

1. A Door Opened
2. “Ye Shall Live Also“
3. At Thy Feet
4. Thy Kingdom Come
5. Hand in Hand with Angels

Ella Wilcox Burdened ("Dear God! there is no sadder fate in life")

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