Life

THE dog has life, the breathing ant
Is living here, as you and I,
And in the yard the humblest plant
Lives out its life beneath the sky.
Life, in itself, is all about,
'Tis given not alone to man,
For life we are not singled out
And favored by some special plan.
Life's but the opportunity
To work and be of service here,
A thousand creatures we may see
Who merely live from year to year.
And to the creatures we descend
If this is all that we bequeath
Those who surround us at the end,
That life is just the power to breathe.