University of Virginia Library


32

ONWARDNESS.

Brave burning hearts that 'mid the battle's press
Dream of some final triumph dim and far,
And know not they are warriors in a war
Whose victory is its own endlessness—
Strong onward-reaching souls whose speed and stress
Chafes at the barriers of their narrowed sphere,—
Who look so far, they cannot see God near—
Whose lips deny even what their lives confess;—
They are as one who stands on some sheer height
While a dark sea breaks whitening at its base,
And sunsetwards lit waves are rolling bright,
And gates of gold guard a more golden place—
So as he stands and longs for that far light,
Its glow divine rests on his gazing face.