September Song

Be not too hard for life is short

And nothing is given to man.

Be not too hard when he is sold and bought

For he must manage as best as he can.

Be not too hard when he gladly dies

Defending things he does not own.

Be not too hard when he tells lies

And if his heart is sometimes like a stone,

Be not too hard, for soon he dies,

Often no wiser than he began.

Be not too hard for life is short

And nothing is given to man.

Christopher Logue, Selected Poems, Faber & Faber, 1996