 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
THE NATURAL AIM OF A DECIDED SOUL.
The natural aim of a decided soul,Defrauded, is its death. The work denied,
By a false judgment, or the world's control,
Which had declared the genius in its pride,
The whole heart sickens; from its day departs
The star that shone for energy and strife!
This gone, so goes the impulse from our hearts,
That else had glowed with a triumphant life.
Oh! wherefore gifts of God—the endowment rare—
If not to proper service consecrate?—
If we deny the mission, and forswear
The duty, making for ourselves a Fate,
Adversely to the Eternal!—to base fare
Descending, when we might have dwelt in state?
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |