Sonnet clxxi | Read history: thus learn how small a space | Edna St. Vincent Millay

Read history: thus learn how small a space
You may inhabit, nor inhabit long
In crowding Cosmos–in that confined place
Work boldly; build your flimsy barriers strong;
Turn round and round and, make warm you nest; among
The other hunting beasts, keep heart and face,–
Not to betray the doomed and splendid race
You are so proud of, to which you belong.
For trouble comes to all of us: the rat
Has courage, in adversity, to fight;
But what a shining animal is man,
Who knows, when pain subsides, that is not that,
For worse than that must follow–yet can write
Music; can laugh; play tennis; even plan.