Paul Laurence Dunbar, "Life" (1896)
A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,
A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,
And never a laugh but the moans come double;
And that is life!
A crust and a corner that love makes precious,
With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;
And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,
And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;
And that is life!
Published in Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896)
Also published in Countee Cullen's Caroling Dusk (1927)