Page:Poems Angier.djvu/47

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SPERO MELIORA.(I hope better things.)
Spero Meliora! though trouble be near,
This motto the sorrow-bowed spirit can cheer;
Spero Meliora—this watchword will give
Fresh courage to labor, new motive to live.

Spero Meliora! when billows run high,
From thy tempest-tossed ark bid Hope's messenger fly;
And she will return with a green branch of peace,
Sure pledge that the storm is beginning to cease.

Spero Meliora! the promise of good,
Was writ in the rainbow o'erarching the flood.
A light in the cloud could the old prophet see,
What that sign was to him be this motto to thee.

Spero Meliora! this watchword hath power
To nerve for the struggle in trial's dark hour;