The Happy Man

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If you would know a happy man,
  Go find the fellow who
Has had a bout with trouble grim
  And just come smiling through.

The load is off his shoulders now,
  Where yesterday he frowned
And saw no joy in life, to-day
  He laughs his way around.

He's done the very thing he thought
  That he could never do;
His sun is shining high to-day
  And all his skies are blue.

He's stronger than he was before;
  Should trouble come anew
He'll know how much his strength can bear
  And how much he can do.

To-day he has the right to smile,
  And he may gaily sing,
For he has conquered where he feared
  The pain of failure's sting.

Comparison has taught him, too,
  The sweetest hours are those
Which follow on the heels of care,
  With laughter and repose.

If you would meet a happy man,
  Go find the fellow who
Has had a bout with trouble grim
  And just come smiling through.

© Edgar Albert Guest