Page:Queen Moo's talisman; the fall of the Maya empire (IA queenmoostalisma00leplrich).djvu/100

The road thro' many lives each one must tread,
And by experience be onward led.
Man's creed saves not, but effort for the right;
Each his own savior is, thro' valiant fight:
Endeavor, not success, makes his account.
Condole we may, but not reproach; all mount
The heights; tho' some may tarry long behind;
The law of being, each to all doth bind."

"Our blundering steps oft bring upon us woe;
To fail to strive entails a keener throe.
The hounded, luckless inmate of the jail
May greater effort make, without avail,
Than judge who sits upon the bench to give
Decree—if prisoner may or may not live.
For one, the right may be an easy way;
In vain the other struggles to obey
Himself, the spark divine that seeks to guide
Thro' matter's maze, and with him e'er will 'bide
Go where he may, in crime, in paths of pain;
Till step by step, the summit he shall gain."

"The woes we feel; the failures we deplore;
Are only means to reach a fairer shore.
When body falls to dust and soul escapes,
The thoughts that grieved fade too, like phantom shapes.
No judge is there to measure out our doom,
Or thrust us into everlasting gloom.