The Little Things

They matter a lot, the little things,

And they measure their bit in the sum

Of the music of hope that sings and sings,

And the roll of the kettle-drum—

The little things, that can turn us away,

Oh, they must be reckoned with, too,

For they save, sometimes, from the things that die,

And they help us to know the true.

We meet them here and we meet them there,

They are in the paths we tread;

They are sometimes dark and sometimes fair,

And they weave through our lives a thread—

And the thread may snap or the thread may hold,

But whatever happens, it seems

That the little things have been part of the gold

Or the bitter iron of our dreams.

You can not get out of the little things,

Nor ignore the part they play

In the roaring tide of life as it swings

Around you from day to day—

For it’s how we manage and master them

That shows us the way we’ll meet

The mighty issues of life’s great strife,

With success or a grim defeat.

Baltimore Sun[1]

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[1] Founded by Arunah Shepherdson Abell, a journeyman printer from Rhode Island who believed in the concept of a people’s paper devoted to the news that most directly affected the lives of its readers, The Sun first appeared on Wednesday, May 17, 1837. That issue consisted of four tabloid-size pages, sold for a penny, and was in marked contrast to the six-cent “literary” dailies then in fashion all along the East Coast. It is still published today. At the time of Clare’s book, the paper was being published at offices at the corner of Charles and Baltimore streets.  (Source: Baltimoresun.com)