Poems By William Bell Scott. Ballads, Studies from Nature, Sonnets, etc. Illustrated by Seventeen Etchings by the Author and L. Alma Tadema |
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HOPE DEFERRED.
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78
VI
HOPE DEFERRED.
Courage of heart and hand, Faith first of all:
Such is the prayer of the perplexèd man,
As the storm-scattered blossoms round him fall,
And shrinking from the rod and from the ban
Of starless chance. Prayer prompted by desires
For mastery and godhead sense denies,
And by sky-pointing mediæval spires,
Symbols of creeds the beaten hound still tries
To shelter under in this pilgrimage,
Passing from birth to death. But let us hear
What Nature, cruel mother! says so sage,—
Still listening if perchance gods interfere—
‘Gain faith and courage through self-harmony,
And live your lives, nor only live to die.’
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