Poems By Richard Chenevix Trench: New ed |
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TO --- |
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219
TO ---
O friend, high thanks I owe thee, not alone
That when I did a stricken mourner stand
Beside a grave, thou cheer'dst me with true tone,
And the firm pressure of a faithful hand;
That when I did a stricken mourner stand
Beside a grave, thou cheer'dst me with true tone,
And the firm pressure of a faithful hand;
It is not for this loving sympathy,
But for a higher blessing thanks I owe,
Thanks owe thee for a lesson plain yet high,
Taught in thy darker hour of heavier woe.
But for a higher blessing thanks I owe,
Thanks owe thee for a lesson plain yet high,
Taught in thy darker hour of heavier woe.
Fain had I been to shrink with coward mind
Not merely from an idle world's turmoil,
But even from friendly greetings of my kind,
Yea, quite to shun my life's appointed toil.
Not merely from an idle world's turmoil,
But even from friendly greetings of my kind,
Yea, quite to shun my life's appointed toil.
But when hereafter shall to me betide
Sorrow or pain, oh, then not any more
May I so seek to thrust my tasks aside;
Oh, then may I retain a nobler lore—
Sorrow or pain, oh, then not any more
May I so seek to thrust my tasks aside;
Oh, then may I retain a nobler lore—
From common burdens no exemption ask,
But in sustaining them best comfort find;
As knowing life has evermore a task
Which must be done—with glad or sorrowing mind:
But in sustaining them best comfort find;
As knowing life has evermore a task
Which must be done—with glad or sorrowing mind:
That pleasure as it came, even so departs,
But duty, life's true star, doth fixed remain;
This lesson graven on my heart of hearts,
This from thy converse is my latest gain.
But duty, life's true star, doth fixed remain;
This lesson graven on my heart of hearts,
This from thy converse is my latest gain.
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