 | Lyrics: By Martin F. Tupper |  |
80
The Good and the True.
Nothing lasts that is not good;
Nothing stands that is not true:—
What a thing misunderstood,
What a thought kept out of view!
O pretences, shams, and cheats,
You may strut your little day,—
But Confusion swiftly meets
And surely drives you all away!
Nothing stands that is not true:—
What a thing misunderstood,
What a thought kept out of view!
O pretences, shams, and cheats,
You may strut your little day,—
But Confusion swiftly meets
And surely drives you all away!
81
Never yet was Truth assail'd,
But the struggle gave it strength;
“Great is Truth and has prevail'd”
Always comes to pass at length:
Never yet was Good attack'd,
But the very foe that smote
Whiten'd up what slander black'd,
And abjured what malice wrote!
But the struggle gave it strength;
“Great is Truth and has prevail'd”
Always comes to pass at length:
Never yet was Good attack'd,
But the very foe that smote
Whiten'd up what slander black'd,
And abjured what malice wrote!
What is Good?—the pure and kind;
What is Truth?—the wise and right;
And, in Matter as in Mind,
Both will live in death's despite:
But the bad, the false, the base,
Barely breathe one feverish hour,
Dying out of every place
Like a rootless nosegay flower.
What is Truth?—the wise and right;
And, in Matter as in Mind,
Both will live in death's despite:
But the bad, the false, the base,
Barely breathe one feverish hour,
Dying out of every place
Like a rootless nosegay flower.
82
How then comes it, that so oft
Good men droop, and good things drown?
How, that Lies are throned aloft,
While so many Truths die down?
—How?—For just a little while,
And by just a herd of fools,
Cheats are praised, and shams beguile,
And sin is stout where Satan rules:
Good men droop, and good things drown?
How, that Lies are throned aloft,
While so many Truths die down?
—How?—For just a little while,
And by just a herd of fools,
Cheats are praised, and shams beguile,
And sin is stout where Satan rules:
Ay,—but look a little higher,
Forward post your eager eye,
You that gloriously aspire,
And on God and Right rely;
Evil perishes—forsake it,—
Falsehood dies—renounce its sway,—
But the Good, for treasure take it,—
And secure the True to-day!
Forward post your eager eye,
You that gloriously aspire,
And on God and Right rely;
Evil perishes—forsake it,—
Falsehood dies—renounce its sway,—
But the Good, for treasure take it,—
And secure the True to-day!
| Lyrics: By Martin F. Tupper | |