What though my feet had reached the utmost round
Of all my early hopes, and plans, and aims,
Still earthly ladders reach but earthly ground;
And though my heart is pained
So often, that I was too weak to climb
To those loved heights 'till passed the golden time;
Earthward sometimes there is from Heaven let down,
A higher path than man has ever gained,
Above the weak acclaim of passing crowds,
Above earth's mountain peaks,
Upon the clouds
For him who fails to climb earth's dizzy heights,
Whose patient sweetness is his only crown.
Of all my early hopes, and plans, and aims,
Still earthly ladders reach but earthly ground;
And though my heart is pained
So often, that I was too weak to climb
To those loved heights 'till passed the golden time;
Earthward sometimes there is from Heaven let down,
A higher path than man has ever gained,
Above the weak acclaim of passing crowds,
Above earth's mountain peaks,
Upon the clouds
For him who fails to climb earth's dizzy heights,
Whose patient sweetness is his only crown.
God writes,
And from white cloud scrolls His bright promise speaks,
When to aspiring souls that have not gained their earth desires.
And from white cloud scrolls His bright promise speaks,
When to aspiring souls that have not gained their earth desires.
God lights
His sunset fires and dims the glory of earth's unattained.
His sunset fires and dims the glory of earth's unattained.
GREAT FORCES
The thunder's roll attends the lightning's play,
Great love is silent and great grief is mute,
Great thoughts have in great acts their perfect fruit;
No flash, no noise, when Purpose marks her way;
The mighty force that midst the stars might flash,
From cloud to cloud in stirring thunder's crash,
Comes down to earth through dust and smoke to move,
In unseen silent usefulness to prove
Her greatness, highest, noblest, grandest when
She bears the humble messages of men.
Great love is silent and great grief is mute,
Great thoughts have in great acts their perfect fruit;
No flash, no noise, when Purpose marks her way;
The mighty force that midst the stars might flash,
From cloud to cloud in stirring thunder's crash,
Comes down to earth through dust and smoke to move,
In unseen silent usefulness to prove
Her greatness, highest, noblest, grandest when
She bears the humble messages of men.
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