Page:Poems Hoffman.djvu/418

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THE HAVEN OF REST

Is there beyond this life's narrow horizon,
Is there beyond this life's ocean distressed,
Calm in the clime of some sheltering shore,
Where the storms cease and the tempests are o'er,
Sky, land and ocean at peace evermore,
Is there, oh, is there a Haven of Rest?

Not for the hands that are trembling and weary,
Not for the feet that the thorn-paths have pressed;
But for the hearts that are sickened to view
Wrongs that the tired hands can never undo,
Sins, briers, that scatter the winding way through
E'en to the haven, the Haven of Rest.

Boast we of courage that never is vanquished,
Hearts brave and strong the mad breakers to breast?
Ah! the chill wavelets will beat them aside,
Stranded above the slow ebb of the tide,
Need we a pilot, a lamp and a guide,
Over the shoals to the Haven of Rest?

Is there no haven, no haven beyond?
None have come back from the sun-setting West.
Oh, have we watched for some token in vain,
Striving our gaze o'er the billows to strain,
Only one unfailing promise to gain,
Of that fair haven, the Haven of Rest?

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