By far the
greater half have I seen through
This
floating life –Ah, there’s a magic word-
This
“half” –so rich in implications.
It bids us
taste the joy of more than we
Can ever
own. Halfway in life is man’s
Best
state, when slackened pace allows him ease;
A wide
world lies halfway ‘twixt heaven and earth;
To live
halfway between the town and land,
Have farms
halfway between the streams and hills;
Be
half-a-scholor, and half-a-squire, and half
In
business; half as gentry live,
And half
related to the common folk;
And have a
house that’s half genteel, half plain,
Half
elegantly furnished and half bare;
Dresses
and gowns that are half old, half new,
And food
half epicure’s, half simple fare;
Have
servants not too clever, not too dull;
A wife
who’s not too simple, nor too smart-
So then,
at heart, I feel I’m half a Buddha,
And almost
half a Taoist fairy blest.
One half
myself to Father Heaven I
Return;
the other half to children leave-
Half
thinking how for my posterity
To plan
and provide, and yet half minding how
To answer
God when the body’s laid at rest.
He is most
wisely drunk who is half drunk;
And
flowers in half-bloom look their prettiest;
As boats
at half-sail sail the steadiest,
And horses
held at half-slack reins trot best.
Who half
too much has, adds anxiety,
But half
too little, adds possession’s zest.
Since
life’s of sweet and bitter compounded,
Who tastes
but half is wise and cleverest.
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