After the Cheers Fade

Soon after the cheers fade Into the thin air of the show, A man is always faced By the reality beyond the crowd; Far away from the charades Of his fairest speech and fame, The truest worth of a man Is revealed in his solitude. Oh, that he seeks no comfort In the bosom of Delilah, For he never wakes up strong Who sleeps on the laps of vanity! Oh, that he takes no solace In the lustre of his affluence, For there is nothing that he has That was not borrowed him! As in life's loudest moments Lie the deadliest vanities, So do the fiercest temptations Visit when no one is near. Arrows that pierce the deepest Come at a time of pleasure, And he is soon caught off-guard Who is lost in vain merry. Behold, after every cheer Comes a time of sheer silence— A crucial hour for every man To listen to his mind's faintest cry. O, think it through my friend Whenever you are alone, For thence is your fate sealed By whatever choice you make thine.