 | Lyrical Poems |  |
77
THE HEREAFTER
Sigh not, fair Mother, as thou seest
The little nursery at thy feet;
Three golden heads together bent
Like statesmen o'er some scheme profound and sweet
Convened in their more gracious Parliament.
The little nursery at thy feet;
Three golden heads together bent
Like statesmen o'er some scheme profound and sweet
Convened in their more gracious Parliament.
Sigh not, if o'er thy faithful heart
Keen shadows of the future go;
The tortures dormant in the frame;
The woes of want and wrong; the sterner woe
Of souls that start, and own a hidden shame.
Keen shadows of the future go;
The tortures dormant in the frame;
The woes of want and wrong; the sterner woe
Of souls that start, and own a hidden shame.
Fenced from the frosty gales of ill
Man slips through life unmade, unbraced:—
As honey from the flint-rock shed
Wrong bravely borne, the brunt of pain well faced,
Rain in soft blessings on the gallant head.
Man slips through life unmade, unbraced:—
As honey from the flint-rock shed
Wrong bravely borne, the brunt of pain well faced,
Rain in soft blessings on the gallant head.
78
Endure! Endure!—Life's lesson so
Is written large in sea and earth:
And He who gives us wider scope
Than the dumb things that struggle from their birth,
Sets in our sky a star of higher hope.
Is written large in sea and earth:
And He who gives us wider scope
Than the dumb things that struggle from their birth,
Sets in our sky a star of higher hope.
And with more joy than one who treads
The road with never-swerving strength,
His future-piercing eyes survey
Those who, wide-roving, to the fold at length
Trace with thorn-redden'd feet their final way.
The road with never-swerving strength,
His future-piercing eyes survey
Those who, wide-roving, to the fold at length
Trace with thorn-redden'd feet their final way.
—Then sigh not, if the smiling band
Their unforethoughtful brightness keep,
And garner sunbeams for the day
When those dear stainless eyes may yearn to weep
The natural drops that cannot force their way.
Their unforethoughtful brightness keep,
And garner sunbeams for the day
When those dear stainless eyes may yearn to weep
The natural drops that cannot force their way.
He who has made us, and foresees
Our tears, to thy too-anxious gaze
The long Hereafter gently spares:—
Only his Love shines forth, through all their days
Pledged to the children of so many prayers.
Our tears, to thy too-anxious gaze
The long Hereafter gently spares:—
Only his Love shines forth, through all their days
Pledged to the children of so many prayers.
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