Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul Part 91

Hope, then, though woes be doubled; Hope and be undismayed; Let not thy heart be troubled, Nor let it be afraid.

This prison where thou art-- Thy G.o.d will break it soon, And flood with light thy heart In his own blessed noon.

Up! up! the day is breaking; Say to thy cares, Good night!

Thy troubles from thee shaking Like dreams in day's fresh light.

Thou wearest not the crown, Nor the best course can tell; G.o.d sitteth on the throne And guideth all things well.

--Paul Gerhardt, tr. by Elizabeth Rundle Charles.

THE SILVER LINING

There's never a day so sunny But a little cloud appears, There's never a life so happy But has its time of tears; Yet the sun s.h.i.+nes out the brighter Whenever the tempest clears.

There's never a garden growing With roses in every plot; There's never a heart so hardened But has one tender spot; We have only to prune the border To find the forget-me-not.

There's never a sun that rises But we know 'twill set at night; The tints that gleam in the morning At evening are just as bright; And the hour that is the sweetest Is between the dark and light.

There is never a cup so pleasant But has bitter with the sweet; There is never a path so rugged, Bearing not the print of feet, But we have a helper furnished For the trials we may meet.

There is never a way so narrow But the entrance is made straight, There is always a guide to point us To the "little wicket gate."

And the angels will be nearest To a soul that's desolate.

There is never a heart so haughty But will some day bow and kneel; There is never a heart so wounded That the Saviour cannot heal; There is many a lowly forehead Bearing now the hidden seal.

There's never a dream so happy But the waking makes us sad; There's never a dream of sorrow But the waking makes us glad; We shall look some day with wonder At the troubles we have had.

Yet sometimes glimmers on my sight, Through present wrong, the eternal right; And, step by step, since time began, I see the steady gain of man.

--John Greenleaf Whittier.

FARTHER ON

I hear it singing, singing sweetly, Softly in an undertone, Singing as if G.o.d had taught it, "It is better farther on!"

Night and day it sings the song, Sings it while I sit alone, Sings so that the heart may hear it, "It is better farther on!"

Sits upon the grave and sings it, Sings it when the heart would groan, Sings it when the shadows darken, "It is better farther on!"

Farther on? How much farther?

Count the milestones one by one?

No! no counting--only trusting, "It is better farther on!"

NEW EVERY MORNING

Every day is a fresh beginning, Every morn is the world made new; You who are weary of sorrow and sinning, Here is a beautiful hope for you-- A hope for me and a hope for you.

All the past things are past and over, The tasks are done and the tears are shed; Yesterday's errors let yesterday cover; Yesterday's wounds, which smarted and bled, Are healed with the healing which night has shed.

Yesterday is a part of forever, Bound up in a sheaf which G.o.d holds tight; With glad days, and sad days, and bad days, which never Shall visit us more with their bloom and their blight, Their fullness of suns.h.i.+ne or sorrowful night.

Let them go, since we cannot relieve them; Cannot undo, and cannot atone; G.o.d in his mercy, receive, forgive them!

Only the new days are our own.

To-day is ours, and to-day alone.

Here are the skies all burnished brightly, Here is the spent earth all reborn; Here are the tired limbs springing lightly To face the sun, and to share with the morn In the chrism of dew and the cool of dawn.

Every day is a fresh beginning; Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain, And, spite of all sorrow and old sinning, And puzzle forecasted, and possible pain, Take heart with the day, and begin again.

--Susan Coolidge.

CHEER UP

Never go gloomily, man with a mind; Hope is a better companion than fear; Providence, ever benignant and kind, Gives with a smile what you take with a tear.

All will be right; look to the light; Morning is ever the daughter of night; All that was black will be all that is bright; Cheerily, cheerily, then, cheer up.

Many a foe is a friend in disguise, Many a sorrow a blessing most true, Helping the heart to be happy and wise, Bringing true love and joys ever new.

Stand in the van; strive like a man; This is the bravest and cleverest plan-- Trusting in G.o.d while you do what you can, Cheerily, cheerily, then, cheer up.

PROGRESS

Idly as thou, in that old day Thou mournest, did thy sire repine; So, in his time, thy child grown gray Shall sigh for thine.

But life shall on and upward go; Th' eternal step of Progress beats To that great anthem, calm and slow, Which G.o.d repeats.

Take heart! The Waster builds again; A charmed life old Goodness hath; The tares may perish, but the grain Is not for death.

--John Greenleaf Whittier.

THE VEILED FUTURE

Veiled the future comes, refusing, To be seen, like Isaac's bride Whom the lonely man met musing In the fields at eventide.

Round him o'er the darkening waste Deeper shades of evening fall, And behind him in the past Mother Sarah's funeral.

Mother Sarah being dead, There comes his veiled destiny; The veiled Rebecca he must wed Whatsoe'er her features be.

On he walks in silent prayer, Bids the veiled Rebecca hail, Doubting not she will prove fair When at length she drops the veil.

When the veil is dropped aside, Dropped in Mother Sarah's tent, Oh! she is right fair, this bride Whom his loving G.o.d has sent.

To those walking 'twixt the two-- 'Twixt the past with pleasures dead And the future veiled from view-- The veiled future thou must wed;