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O Thou of Little Faith.
It may be trueThat while we walk the troublous tossing sea,That when we see the oertopping waves advance,And when we feel our feet beneath us sink,There are who walk beside us; and the cryThat rises so spontaneous to the lips,The Help us or we perish, is not nought,An evanescent spectrum of disease.It may be that indeed and not in fancy,A hand that is not ours upstays our steps,A voice that is not ours commands the waves;Commands the waves, and whispers in our ear,O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?At any rate,That there are beings above us, I believe,And when we lift up holy hands of prayer,I will not say they will not give us aid.
Arthur Hugh Clough
Ashamed, But Not Afraid
O God, I am ashamed to die,But not the least afraid;Tho' death's dark shadow draweth nigh,Atonement has been madeFor every member of our race,And I on it rely,And hope immortal blooms thro' grace;I'm not afraid to die.But Thou hast done great things for me,And I have nothing done.To set my sin-bound spirit free,Was sacrificed Thy Son;And every day by Thy kind handRich blessings are bestowed;Oh, how can I before Thee stand,Or rest in Thine abodeWith self-respect, or feel at homeWith no returns to show,My whole life like the worthless foamOn time's incessant flow.Oh, that in life's great harvest field,I may some reaping do;Early and late the sickle wield,And prove a reaper tr...
Joseph Horatio Chant
The Patience Of The People.
("Il s'est dit tant de fois.")[III., May, 1830.]How often have the people said: "What's power?"Who reigns soon is dethroned? each fleeting hourHas onward borne, as in a fevered dream,Such quick reverses, like a judge supreme -Austere but just, they contemplate the endTo which the current of events must tend.Self-confidence has taught them to forbear,And in the vastness of their strength, they spare.Armed with impunity, for one in vainResists a nation, they let others reign.G.W.M. REYNOLDS.
Victor-Marie Hugo
Chant Royal Of High Virtue
Who lives in suit of armour pent And hides himself behind a wall,For him is not the great event, The garland nor the Capitol.And is God's guerdon less than they? Nay, moral man, I tell thee Nay:Nor shall the flaming forts be won By sneaking negatives alone,By Lenten fast or Ramazàn; But by the challenge proudly thrown--Virtue is that becrowns a Man!God, in His Palace resident Of Bliss, beheld our sinful ball,And charged His own Son innocent Us to redeem from Adam's fall."Yet must it be that men Thee slay.""Yea, tho' it must, must I obey,"Said Christ; and came, His royal Son,To die, and dying to atone For harlot, thief, and publican.Read on that rood He died upon-- Vi...
Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
To The Citizens[1]
And shall the Patriot who maintain'd your cause,From future ages only meet applause?Shall he, who timely rose t'his country's aid,By her own sons, her guardians, be betray'd?Did heathen virtues in your hearts reside,These wretches had been damn'd for parricide. Should you behold, whilst dreadful armies threatThe sure destruction of an injured state,Some hero, with superior virtue bless'd,Avert their rage, and succour the distress'd;Inspired with love of glorious liberty,Do wonders to preserve his country free;He like the guardian shepherd stands, and theyLike lions spoil'd of their expected prey,Each urging in his rage the deadly dart,Resolved to pierce the generous hero's heart;Struck with the sight, your souls would swell with grief,...
Jonathan Swift
No Coward Soul Is Mine
No coward soul is mine,No trembler in the world,s storm-troubled sphere:I see Heaven's glories shine,And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear.O God within my breast.Almighty ever-present Deity!Life , that in me has rest,As I Undying Life, have power in thee!Vain are the thousand creedsThat move men's hearts, unutterably vain;Worthless as withered weeds,Or idlest froth amid the boundless main,To waken doubt in oneHolding so fast by Thy infinity;So surely anchored onThe steadfast rock of Immortality.With wide-embracing loveThy Spirit animates eternal years,Pervades and broods above,Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.Though Earth and moon were gone,And suns and universes c...
Emily Bronte
Forbearance
(Beareth all things. - 1 Cor. xiii. 7.)Gently I took that which ungently came,And without scorn forgave: Do thou the same.A wrong done to thee think a cat's-eye sparkThou wouldst not see, were not thine own heart dark.Thine own keen sense of wrong that thirsts for sin,Fear that, the spark self-kindled from within,Which blown upon will blind thee with its glare,Or smother'd stifle thee with noisome air.Clap on the extinguisher, pull up the blinds,And soon the ventilated spirit findsIts natural daylight. If a foe have kenn'd,Or worse than foe, an alienated friend,A rib of dry rot in thy ship's stout side,Think it God's message, and in humble prideWith heart of oak replace it; thine the gainsGive him the rotten timber for his pains!
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
See The Field Of Battle Gleams.
See, the field of battle gleamsYonward past the tented streams,There the foe is camping;By the thirst-assuaging rill,From the copse behind the hillHear his war-steeds champing.Northern Knights and Southern Sons,Onward to the gleaming guns!Now's the hour of battle!Though his files be ten to one,Seek the foe from sun to sun,Where his muskets rattle.O'er the walls with slaughter wet,O'er the ball-scarred parapet,Daring man and missile,Charge to meet his best or worst,Where his shrieking bombshells burstAnd his bullets whistle.Roll in waves of living blue,Pierce the columned centre through,Fill the world with wonder;Rush, as with a lion's will,Where his lightnings flash to killAnd his cann...
A. H. Laidlaw
The Narrow Way
Believe not those who sayThe upward path is smooth,Lest thou shouldst stumble in the way,And faint before the truth.It is the only roadUnto the realms of joy;But he who seeks that blest abodeMust all his powers employ.Bright hopes and pure delightUpon his course may beam,And there, amid the sternest heights,The sweetest flowerets gleam.On all her breezes borne,Earth yields no scents like those;But he that dares not gasp the thornShould never crave the rose.Arm--arm thee for the fight!Cast useless loads away;Watch through the darkest hours of night;Toil through the hottest day.Crush pride into the dust,Or thou must needs be slack;And trample down rebellious lust,Or it will h...
Anne Bronte
Survival Of The Fittest.
Now let the hero of our song, Be he who gentle treats the throng, And would not cruel treat another, But to each be as to a brother. And he must have both sense and wit, And be possessed of strength and grit, Then strong as proof of holy writ, For to survive he is most fit. And according to our test, The fittest only is the best, These have a right for to survive, And well they do deserve to thrive. And this kind of evolution It will bring no revolution, But revolve in Christian sphere, Where scripture truths are prized and dear. Give us the man doth persevere, And presses on in his career,...
James McIntyre
To A Lady
Spare, gen'rous victor, spare the slave,Who did unequal war pursue;That more than triumph he might have,In being overcome by you.In the dispute whate'er I said,My heart was by my tongue belied;And in my looks you might have readHow much I argued on your side.You, far from danger as from fear,Might have sustain'd an open fight:For seldom your opinions err:Your eyes are always in the right.Why, fair one, would you not relyOn Reason's force with Beauty's join'd?Could I their prevalence deny,I must at once be deaf and blind.Alas! not hoping to subdue,I only to the fight aspir'd:To keep the beauteous foe in viewWas all the glory I desir'd.But she, howe'er of vict'ry sure.Contemns the wreath...
Matthew Prior
The Christian Militant.
A man prepar'd against all ills to come,That dares to dead the fire of martyrdom;That sleeps at home, and sailing there at ease,Fears not the fierce sedition of the seas;That's counter-proof against the farm's mishaps,Undreadful too of courtly thunderclaps;That wears one face, like heaven, and never showsA change when fortune either comes or goes;That keeps his own strong guard in the despiteOf what can hurt by day or harm by night;That takes and re-delivers every strokeOf chance (as made up all of rock and oak);That sighs at others' death, smiles at his ownMost dire and horrid crucifixion.Who for true glory suffers thus, we grantHim to be here our Christian militant.
Robert Herrick
A Woman's Honor: A Song
Love bade me hope, and I obeyed;Phyllis continued still unkind:Then you may een despair, he said,In vain I strive to change her mind.Honors got in, and keeps her heart,Durst he but venture once abroad,In my own right Id take your part,And show myself the mightier God.This huffing Honor domineersIn breasts alone where he has place:But if true generous Love apppears,The hector dares not show his face.Let me still languish and complain,Be most unhumanly denied:I have some pleasure in my pain,She can have none with all her pride.I fall a sacrifice to Love,She lives a wretch for Honors sake;Whose tyrant does most cruel prove,The difference is not hard to make.Consider real Honor then,Yo...
John Wilmot
Motto.
Politeness, perseverance and pluck, To their possessor will bring good luck.
America
I am the refuge of all the oppressed,I am the boast of the free,I am the harbour where ships may restSafely 'twixt sea and sea.I hold up a torch to a darkened world,I lighten the path with its ray.Let my hand keep steadyAnd let me be readyFor whatever comes my way -Let me be ready.Oh, better than fortresses, better than guns,Better than lance or spear,Are the loyal hearts of my daughters and sons,Faithful and without fear.But my daughters and sons must understandTHAT ATTILA DID NOT DIE.And they must be ready,Their hands must be steady,If the hosts of hell come nigh -They must be ready.If Jesus were back on the earth with men,He would not preach to-dayUntil He had made Him a scourge, and again
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
An Inspiration
However the battle is ended, Though proudly the victor comesWith fluttering flags and prancing nags And echoing roll of drums,Still truth proclaims this motto In letters of living light, -No question is ever settled Until it is settled right.Though the heel of the strong oppressor May grind the weak in the dust;And the voices of fame with one acclaim May call him great and just,Let those who applaud take warning. And keep this motto in sight, -No question is ever settled Until it is settled right.Let those who have failed take courage; Though the enemy seems to have won,Though his ranks are strong, if he be in the wrong The battle is not yet done;For, sure as the morning follows<...
Of Anticipation. from Proverbial Philosophy
Thou hast seen many sorrows, travel-stained pilgrim of the world.But that which hath vexed thee most hath been the looking for evil;And though calamities have crossed thee, and misery been heaped on thy head,Yet ills, that never happened, have chiefly made thee wretched.The sting of pain and the edge of pleasure are blunted by long expectation,For the gall and the balm alike are diluted in the waters of patience:And often thou sippest sweetness, ere the cup is dashed from thy lip;Or drainest the gall of fear, while evil is passing by thy dwelling.A man too careful of danger liveth in continual torment,But a cheerful expecter of the best hath a fountain of joy within him:Yea, though the breath of disappointment should chill the sanguine heart,Speedily gloweth it again, warme...
Martin Farquhar Tupper
Success.
Oft have I brooded on defeat and pain,The pathos of the stupid, stumbling throng.These I ignore to-day and only longTo pour my soul forth in one trumpet strain,One clear, grief-shattering, triumphant song,For all the victories of man's high endeavor,Palm-bearing, laureled deeds that live forever,The splendor clothing him whose will is strong.Hast thou beheld the deep, glad eyes of oneWho has persisted and achieved? Rejoice!On naught diviner shines the all-seeing sun.Salute him with free heart and choral voice,'Midst flippant, feeble crowds of spectres wan,The bold, significant, successful man.
Emma Lazarus