Explore "Perfection" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The leaf that ripens only in the sun / Is dull and shrivelled ere its race is run. / The leaf that makes a carnival of death / Must tremble first before the north wind's breath.
The life that neither grief nor burden knows / Is dwarfed in sympathy before its close. / The life that grows majestic with the years / Must taste the bitter tonic found in tears.