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ENDURANCE.
I
Ever struggle and endurance:“Is there no repose?” I cried;
Gives the world but this assurance,—
Others thus have lived and died?
II
On the broad highway of beingCrowds on crowds still ever go;
Nothing more beyond them seeing
Than to toil with foreheads low.
III
To a spot I wander'd dreary,With thick branches overlaid,
For the sunlight made me weary—
There seem'd solace in the shade.
89
IV
On a bank my limbs reposing,Found a momentary balm;
Spirit worn, my eyelids closing,
Sought forgetfulness and calm.
V
Still that thought, for ever present,Came with purpose unexprest;
As beneath the moon's dim crescent
Glides some ghost that cannot rest.
VI
Seeking hint or clue to guide me,As I leant upon the earth,
I beheld a flower beside me
Struggling, midst the soil, to birth.
VII
Through the winter's wrath and rigour,Pent in dust, and prison'd fast,
Had it forced its path with vigour,
Till obstruction ceased at last!
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VIII
Now within its emerald bosomAll the future life reposed—
Swell'd the rich and golden blossom
That the morn would see unclosed.
IX
Then my heart, with sudden motion,Lost the weight so hard to bear;
And some new and sweet devotion
Soothed and sanctified its care.
X
He who thus the flower hath moulded,Sphered its being to this span;
He, too, hath the future folded
In the living soul of man!
XI
For a time the soil is round us,For a time we feel the thorn;
When the spirit-hour hath found us,
Inner glories shall be born!
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XII
Welcome struggle and endurance—Welcome toil, to this allied;
Welcome the divine assurance,—
Others thus have lived and died!
XIII
Toil, I kiss thee with affection,Never more shall mortal say
That I view thee with dejection—
That I murmur on my way.
XIV
Through the soil and earthy ember,He who raised the flower from dust—
He will also man remember;
And in Him I move and trust?
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