 | Dryburgh Abbey and other poems |  |
WORK AND WIN.
Attend, oh, Man,
Uplift the banner of thy kind,
Advance the ministry of mind:
The mountain height is free to climb,—
Toil on,—Man's heritage is Time!
Toil on!
Uplift the banner of thy kind,
Advance the ministry of mind:
The mountain height is free to climb,—
Toil on,—Man's heritage is Time!
Toil on!
Work on and win:—
Life without work is unenjoyed;
The happiest are the best employed!—
Work moves and moulds the mightiest birth,
And grasps the destinies of earth!
Work on!
Life without work is unenjoyed;
The happiest are the best employed!—
Work moves and moulds the mightiest birth,
And grasps the destinies of earth!
Work on!
18
Work sows the seed;
Even the rock may yield its flower,—
No lot so hard, but human power,
Exerted to one end and aim,
May conquer fate, and capture fame!
Press on!
Even the rock may yield its flower,—
No lot so hard, but human power,
Exerted to one end and aim,
May conquer fate, and capture fame!
Press on!
Press onward still;
In nature's centre lives the fire
That slow, though sure, doth yet aspire;
Through fathoms deep of mould and clay,
It splits the rocks that bar its way!
Press on!
In nature's centre lives the fire
That slow, though sure, doth yet aspire;
Through fathoms deep of mould and clay,
It splits the rocks that bar its way!
Press on!
If nature then
Lay tame beneath her weight of earth,
When would her hidden fire know birth?
Thus Man, through granite Fate, must find
The path,—the upward path,—of Mind!
Work on!
Lay tame beneath her weight of earth,
When would her hidden fire know birth?
Thus Man, through granite Fate, must find
The path,—the upward path,—of Mind!
Work on!
Pause not in fear;
Preach no desponding, servile view,—
Whate'er thou will'st thy Will may do!
Strengthen each manly nerve to bend
Truth's bow, and bid its shaft ascend!
Toil on!
Preach no desponding, servile view,—
Whate'er thou will'st thy Will may do!
Strengthen each manly nerve to bend
Truth's bow, and bid its shaft ascend!
Toil on!
19
Be firm of heart;
By fusion of unnumber'd years
A continent its vastness rears!
A drop, 'tis said, through flint will wear;
Toil on, and Nature's conquest share!
Toil on!
By fusion of unnumber'd years
A continent its vastness rears!
A drop, 'tis said, through flint will wear;
Toil on, and Nature's conquest share!
Toil on!
Within thyself
Bright morn, and noon, and night succeed,—
Power, feeling, passion, thought and deed;
Harmonious beauty prompts thy breast,—
Things angels love, and God hath blest!
Work on!
Bright morn, and noon, and night succeed,—
Power, feeling, passion, thought and deed;
Harmonious beauty prompts thy breast,—
Things angels love, and God hath blest!
Work on!
Work on and win!
Shall light from Nature's depths arise,
And thou, whose mind can grasp the skies,
Sit down with Fate, and idly rail?
No—onward! Let the Truth prevail!
Work on!
Shall light from Nature's depths arise,
And thou, whose mind can grasp the skies,
Sit down with Fate, and idly rail?
No—onward! Let the Truth prevail!
Work on!
| Dryburgh Abbey and other poems | |