Our Meaning

By Bertha E. Anderson

We mean it well – all the hurry and din we crowd in the lives we live;
And we mean it too, when we dream and sigh o’er the time we long to give
to the friends and scenes, the cares and needs that surround us everywhere,
But the wheels of our toil rushing on so fast need our presence always there.

We mean it well tho’ we never have time to pause on the sunlit street
To whisper a message of old-time cheer to the lingering friends we meet;
Tho’ we leave till tomorrow our sympathy and the touch of our busy hand,
We mean so well to be always their friend that they ought to understand.

We mean it – all of the care and love that we owe to the frail and weak,
And the sunny words with their strength to heal that tomorrow we mean to speak:
But meaning – what is your boasted worth that each busy moment can stay?
for we know that the hours of tomorrow are brief as the hours of today.

(1901)