Lord Lytton

It smelt so faint, and it smelt so sweet,
It made me creep and it made me cold.
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It smelt so faint, and it smelt so sweet,
It made me creep and it made me cold.
Like the scent that steals from the crumbling sheet
Where a mummy is half unroll'd.

And the jasmine flower in her fair young breast,
(O the faint, sweet smell of that jasmine flower!)
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And the jasmine flower in her fair young breast,
(O the faint, sweet smell of that jasmine flower!)
And the one bird singing alone to his nest.
And the one star over the tower.

There is purpose in pain,
Otherwise it were devilish.

There is purpose in pain,
Otherwise it were devilish.

The things which must be, must be for the best,
God helps us do our duty and not shrink,
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The things which must be, must be for the best,
God helps us do our duty and not shrink,
And trust His mercy humbly for the rest.

We may live without poetry, music and art;
We may live without conscience, and live without heart;
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We may live without poetry, music and art;
We may live without conscience, and live without heart;
We may live without friends; we may live without books;
But civilized man cannot live without cooks.
He may live without books,--what is knowledge but grieving?
He may live without hope,--what is hope but deceiving?
He may live without love,--what is passion but pining?
But where is the man that can live without dining?