 | My Lyrical Life |  |
IT WILL END IN THE RIGHT.
Never despair! O, my Comrades in sorrow!
I know that our mourning is ended not. Yet,
Shall the vanquished to-day be the Victors tomorrow,
Our Star shall shine on in the Tyrant's Sunset.
Hold on! though they spurn thee, for whom thou art living
A life only cheered by the lamp of its love:
Hold on! Freedom's hope to the bounden ones giving:
Green spots in the waste wait the worn spirit-dove.
Hold on,—still hold on,—in the world's despite,
Nurse the faith in thy heart, keep the lamp of Truth bright,
And, my life for thine! it shall end in the Right.
I know that our mourning is ended not. Yet,
Shall the vanquished to-day be the Victors tomorrow,
Our Star shall shine on in the Tyrant's Sunset.
Hold on! though they spurn thee, for whom thou art living
A life only cheered by the lamp of its love:
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Green spots in the waste wait the worn spirit-dove.
Hold on,—still hold on,—in the world's despite,
Nurse the faith in thy heart, keep the lamp of Truth bright,
And, my life for thine! it shall end in the Right.
What, though the Martyrs and Prophets have perished!
The Angel of Life rolls the stone from their graves:
Immortal's the faith, and the freedom they cherished,
Their lone Triumph-cry stirs the spirits of slaves!
They are gone,—but a Glory is left in our life,
Like the day-god's last kiss on the darkness of Even—
Gone down on the desolate seas of their strife,
To climb as star-beacons up Liberty's heaven.
Hold on,—still hold on,—in the world's despite,
Nurse the faith in thy heart, keep the lamp of Truth bright,
And, my life for thine! it shall end in the Right.
The Angel of Life rolls the stone from their graves:
Immortal's the faith, and the freedom they cherished,
Their lone Triumph-cry stirs the spirits of slaves!
They are gone,—but a Glory is left in our life,
Like the day-god's last kiss on the darkness of Even—
Gone down on the desolate seas of their strife,
To climb as star-beacons up Liberty's heaven.
Hold on,—still hold on,—in the world's despite,
Nurse the faith in thy heart, keep the lamp of Truth bright,
And, my life for thine! it shall end in the Right.
Think of the Wrongs that have ground us for ages,
Think of the Wrongs we have still to endure!
Think of our blood, red on History's pages;
Then work, that our reck'ning be speedy and sure.
Slaves cry to their Gods! but be our God revealed
In our lives, in our works, in our warfare for man;
And bearing—or borne upon—Victory's shield,
Let us fight battle-harnessed, and fall in the van.
Hold on,—still hold on,—in the world's despite,
Nurse the faith in thy heart, keep the lamp of Truth bright,
And, my life for thine! it shall end in the Right.
Think of the Wrongs we have still to endure!
Think of our blood, red on History's pages;
Then work, that our reck'ning be speedy and sure.
Slaves cry to their Gods! but be our God revealed
In our lives, in our works, in our warfare for man;
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Let us fight battle-harnessed, and fall in the van.
Hold on,—still hold on,—in the world's despite,
Nurse the faith in thy heart, keep the lamp of Truth bright,
And, my life for thine! it shall end in the Right.
| My Lyrical Life | |