 | Lyrical Poems |  |
229
WORK AWAY.
—The bird here referred to is one of the Caprimulgus or goatsucker tribe, well known to naturalists.
Ye toiled ones who sigh for the down and the roses,
While ye march to the beat of the drum,
And deem that, when life's measured drudgery closes,
A long taskless Sabbath shall come;
I tell ye, in vain
Ye sigh and complain,
The disease and the cure are both whims of the brain;
All things by deep labour are stirred;
Work away! Work away! Work away!
So cries the American bird.
While ye march to the beat of the drum,
And deem that, when life's measured drudgery closes,
A long taskless Sabbath shall come;
I tell ye, in vain
Ye sigh and complain,
The disease and the cure are both whims of the brain;
All things by deep labour are stirred;
Work away! Work away! Work away!
So cries the American bird.
The flower-bulb may rest when dull Winter it beareth,
But when Spring comes, and bright sunny sheen,
When the many-hued flower, and ripe fruit it prepareth,
It toils then unceasing, I ween.
For no rest Nature knows,
Where the heart warm glows,
And in mystical currents the strong tide flows;
With our labour our life is interred.
Work away! Work away! Work away!
So cries the American bird.
But when Spring comes, and bright sunny sheen,
When the many-hued flower, and ripe fruit it prepareth,
It toils then unceasing, I ween.
230
Where the heart warm glows,
And in mystical currents the strong tide flows;
With our labour our life is interred.
Work away! Work away! Work away!
So cries the American bird.
In vain would ye break, with a fretful revulsion,
The force that subdues soul to soul;
Each power on the other a kindly compulsion
Imposes, to perfect the whole.
In his march Old Time,
If you will not climb,
Will leave you to gather the fruit of your crime;
Whoso will not spur must be spurred.
Work away! Work away! Work away!
So cries the American bird.
The force that subdues soul to soul;
Each power on the other a kindly compulsion
Imposes, to perfect the whole.
In his march Old Time,
If you will not climb,
Will leave you to gather the fruit of your crime;
Whoso will not spur must be spurred.
Work away! Work away! Work away!
So cries the American bird.
Leave ease to the idols of old Epicurus;
Through danger, and doubt, and delay,
To the word of the truth with strong faith we will moor us,
And work, while 'tis called to-day;
For God no repose
In the wide world knows,
But working and weaving His wise Spirit goes,
And the voice of his preaching is heard,
Work away! Work away! Work away!
In the warning American bird.
Through danger, and doubt, and delay,
To the word of the truth with strong faith we will moor us,
And work, while 'tis called to-day;
For God no repose
In the wide world knows,
231
And the voice of his preaching is heard,
Work away! Work away! Work away!
In the warning American bird.
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