Poems (Hoffman)/Every Heart Knowest Its Bitterness
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EVERY HEART KNOWETH ITS BITTERNESS
Every heart knoweth its bitterness,
Every spirit its own distress;
Every life hath its pain and care,
Every traveler his load to bear.
Every spirit its own distress;
Every life hath its pain and care,
Every traveler his load to bear.
O, shall we sink 'neath our given load,
Hopeless and weak by the dusty road?
Thinking of all who must journey there,
Ours is the hardest load to bear!
Hopeless and weak by the dusty road?
Thinking of all who must journey there,
Ours is the hardest load to bear!
Look where the wounded and worn have trod,
Sprinkling the pathway with tears and blood;
Look where the dying have struggled on,
Look where the burdened hosts have gone.
Sprinkling the pathway with tears and blood;
Look where the dying have struggled on,
Look where the burdened hosts have gone.
Hopeless and crippled, and blind, and old,
Grasping their burden with feeble hold;
Cheering the journey with jest and song,
Clearing our way as they passed along.
Grasping their burden with feeble hold;
Cheering the journey with jest and song,
Clearing our way as they passed along.
O, if our hearts are but strong and true,
We shall not stumble the long way through!
O, if our feet are but brave and swift,
Many another's load we'll lift!
We shall not stumble the long way through!
O, if our feet are but brave and swift,
Many another's load we'll lift!
What if our hearts a bitterness know,
Weigh it against earth's great deep of woe;
Only a drop in the world's distress,
Every heart knoweth its bitterness.
Weigh it against earth's great deep of woe;
Only a drop in the world's distress,
Every heart knoweth its bitterness.