Lord Lytton

God be thank'd that the dead have left still
Good undone for the living to do--
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God be thank'd that the dead have left still
Good undone for the living to do--
Still some aim for the heart and the will
And the soul of a man to pursue.

They only fall, that strive to move,
Or lose, that care to keep.

They only fall, that strive to move,
Or lose, that care to keep.

The things which must be, must be for the best,
God helps us do our duty and not shrink,
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The things which must be, must be for the best,
God helps us do our duty and not shrink,
And trust His mercy humbly for the rest.

We may live without poetry, music and art;
We may live without conscience, and live without heart;
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We may live without poetry, music and art;
We may live without conscience, and live without heart;
We may live without friends; we may live without books;
But civilized man cannot live without cooks.
He may live without books,--what is knowledge but grieving?
He may live without hope,--what is hope but deceiving?
He may live without love,--what is passion but pining?
But where is the man that can live without dining?

Oh, better no doubt is a dinner of herbs,
When season'd with love, which no rancour disturbs
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Oh, better no doubt is a dinner of herbs,
When season'd with love, which no rancour disturbs
And sweeten'd by all that is sweetest in life
Than turbot, bisque, ortolans, eaten in strife!
But if, out of humour, and hungry, alone
A man should sit down to dinner, each one
Of the dishes which the cook chooses to spoil
With a horrible mixture of garlic and oil,
The chances are ten against one, I must own,
He gets up as ill-tempered as when he sat down.