01c. 1807 ADAnd yet, dear heart! remembering thee, Am I not richer than of old? Safe in thy immortality, What change can reach the wealth I hold? What chance can mar the pearl and gold Thy love hath left in trust for me? And while in life’s long afternoon, Where cool and long the shadows grow, I walk to meet the night that soon Shall shape and shadow overflow, I cannot feel that thou art far, Since near at need the angels are; And when the sunset gates unbar, Shall I not see thee waiting stand, And, white against the evening star, The welcome of thy beckoning hand?John G. Whittier / quote ↗
02c. 1807 ADHe cometh not a king to reign; The world’s long hope is dim; The weary centuries watch in vain The clouds of heaven for Him. And not for sign in heaven above Or earth below they look, Who know with John His smile of love, With Peter His rebuke. In joy of inward peace, or sense Of sorrow over sin, He is His own best evidence His witness is within. The healing of His seamless dress, Is by our beds of pain; We touch Him in life’s throng and press, And we are whole again. O Lord and Master of us all! Whate’er our name or sign, We own Thy sway, we hear Thy call, We test our lives by Thine.... Our Friend, our Brother, and our Lord, What may Thy service be?— Nor name, nor form, nor ritual word, But simply following Thee. We faintly hear, we dimly see, In differing phrase we pray; But, dim or clear, we own in Thee, The Light, the Truth, the Way!John G. Whittier / quote ↗
03c. 1807 ADBeneath the moonlight and the snow Lies dead my latest year; The winter winds are wailing low Its dirges in my ear. I grieve not with the moaning wind As if a loss befell; Before me, even as behind, God is, and all is well!John G. Whittier / quote ↗
04c. 1807 ADLet the thick curtain fall; I better know than all How little I have gained. How vast the unattained. Not by the page word-painted Let life be banned or sainted; Deeper than written scroll The colours of the soul. Sweeter than any sung My songs that found no tongue; Nobler than any fact My wish that failed of act.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
05c. 1807 ADAnd shall the sinful heart, alone, Behold, unmoved, the atoning hour, When Nature trembles on her throne, And death resigns his iron power? O, shall the heart,—whose sinfulness Gave keenness to His sore distress, And added to His tears of blood— Refuse its trembling gratitude?John G. Whittier / quote ↗
06c. 1807 ADLeaning on Him, make with reverent meekness His own, thy will; And with strength from Him shall thy utter weakness Life’s task fulfil; And that cloud itself, which now before thee Lies dark in view, Shall with beams of light, from the inner glory, Be stricken through.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
08c. 1807 ADWho may not strive, may yet fulfil The harder task of standing still, And good but wished, with God is done.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
09c. 1807 ADSearch thine own heart. What paineth thee In others, in thyself may be; All dust is frail, all flesh is weak; Be thou the true man thou dost seek.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
11c. 1807 ADI feel the earth move sunward, I join the great march onward, And take by faith while living My freehold of thanksgiving.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
12c. 1807 ADGod will not mock the hope he giveth, No love he prompts shall vainly plead.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
13c. 1807 ADIf there be some weaker one, Give me strength to help him on; If a blinder soul there be, Let me guide him nearer Thee. Make my mortal dreams come true With the work I fain would do; Clothe with life the weak intent, Let me be the thing I meant; Let me find in Thine employ Peace that dearer is than joy!John G. Whittier / quote ↗
14c. 1807 ADWe search the world for truth; we cull The good, the pure, the beautiful, From graven stone and written scroll, From all old flower-fields of the soul.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
15c. 1807 ADThrough the harsh noises of our day A low sweet prelude finds its way: Through clouds of doubt and creeds of fear A light is breaking, calm and clear. Henceforth my heart shall sigh no more For olden time and holier shore: God's love and blessing, then and there Are now and here and everywhere.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
16c. 1807 ADOthers shall sing the song, Others shall right the wrong, Finish what I begin, And all I fail to win, What matter, I or they, Mine or another's day, So the right word be said, And life the sweeter made?John G. Whittier / quote ↗
17c. 1807 ADA dreary place would be this earth, Were there no little people in it: The song of life would lose its mirth, Were there no children to begin it: No little forms, like buds to grow, And make the admiring heart surrender: No little hands on breast and brow, To keep the thrilling love-chords tender. The sterner souls would grow more stern, Unfeeling nature more inhuman, And man to stoic coldness turn, And woman would be less than woman. Life's song, indeed, would lose its charm, Were there no babies to begin it; A doleful place this world would be, Were there no little people in it.John G. Whittier / quote ↗
