Reading of He Never Expected Much by Thomas Hardy

HE NEVER EXPECTED MUCH
[or]
A CONSIDERATION
[A reflection] ON MY EIGHTY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY
WELL, World, you have kept faith with me,
Kept faith with me;
Upon the whole you have proved to be
Much as you said you were.
Since as a child I used to lie
Upon the leaze and watch the sky,
Never, I own, expected I
That life would all be fair.
'Twas then you said, and since have said,
Times since have said,
In that mysterious voice you shed
From clouds and hills around:
'Many have loved me desperately,
Many with smooth serenity,
While some have shown contempt of me
Till they dropped underground.
'I do not promise overmuch,
Child; overmuch;
Just neutral-tinted haps and such,'
You said to minds like mine.
Wise warning for your credit's sake!
Which I for one failed not to take,
And hence could stem such strain and ache
as each year might assign

[@jacksonltorisha4501]

Man, I love this poem!