Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul. Various

hath need of thine;

      Hark! the onset! will ye fold your faith-clad arms in lazy lock?

      Up! O up, thou drowsy soldier! Worlds are charging to the shock.

      Worlds are charging—heaven beholding; thou hast but an hour to fight;

      Now the blazoned cross unfolding, on, right onward for the right!

      On! let all the soul within you for the truth's sake go abroad!

      Strike! let every nerve and sinew tell on ages; tell for God!

      —Arthur Cleveland Coxe.

      ———

      BRAVERY

      We will speak on; we will be heard;

      Though all earth's systems crack,

      We will not bate a single word,

      Nor take a letter back.

      We speak the truth; and what care we

      For hissing and for scorn

      While some faint gleaming we can see

      Of Freedom's coming morn!

      Let liars fear; let cowards shrink;

      Let traitors turn away;

      Whatever we have dared to think,

      That dare we also say.

      —James Russell Lowell.

      ———

      NO ENEMIES

      He has no enemies, you say?

      My friend, your boast is poor;

      He who hath mingled in the fray

      Of duty, that the brave endure,

      Must have made foes. If he has none

      Small is the work that he has done.

      He has hit no traitor on the hip;

      He has cast no cup from tempted lip;

      He has never turned the wrong to right;

      He has been a coward in the fight.

      ———

      One deed may mar a life,

      And one can make it.

      Hold firm thy will for strife,

      Lest a quick blow break it!

      Even now from far, on viewless wing,

      Hither speeds the nameless thing

      Shall put thy spirit to the test.

      Haply or e'er yon sinking sun

      Shall drop behind the purple West

      All shall be lost—or won!

      —Richard Watson Gilder.

      ———

      In spite of sorrow, loss, and pain,

      Our course be onward still;

      We sow on Burmah's barren plain,

      We reap on Zion's hill.

      —Adoniram Judson.

      ———

      I find no foeman in the road but Fear.

      To doubt is failure and to dare success.

      —Frederic Lawrence Knowles.

      

      ———

      DARE TO DO RIGHT

      Dare to do right! dare to be true!

      You have a work that no other can do,

      Do it so bravely, so kindly, so well,

      Angels will hasten the story to tell.

      Dare to do right! dare to be true!

      Other men's failures can never save you;

      Stand by your conscience, your honor, your faith;

      Stand like a hero, and battle till death.

      Dare to do right! dare to be true!

      God, who created you, cares for you too;

      Treasures the tears that his striving ones shed,

      Counts and protects every hair of your head.

      Dare to do right! dare to be true!

      Keep the great judgment-seat always in view;

      Look at your work as you'll look at it then—

      Scanned by Jehovah, and angels, and men.

      Dare to do right! dare to be true!

      Cannot Omnipotence carry you through?

      City, and mansion, and throne all in sight—

      Can you not dare to be true and do right?

      Dare to do right! dare to be true!

      Prayerfully, lovingly, firmly pursue

      The path by apostles and martyrs once trod,

      The path of the just to the city of God.

      —George Lansing Taylor.

      ———

      PLUCK WINS

      Pluck wins! It always wins! though days be slow,

      And nights be dark 'twixt days that come and go,

      Still pluck will win; its average is sure,

      He gains the prize who will the most endure;

      Who faces issues; he who never shirks;

      Who waits and watches, and who always works.

      ———

      BE NEVER DISCOURAGED

      Be never discouraged!

      Look up and look on;

      When the prospect is darkest

      The cloud is withdrawn.

      The shadows that blacken

      The earth and the sky,

      Speak to the strong-hearted,

      Salvation is nigh.

      Be never discouraged!

      If you would secure

      The earth's richest blessings,

      And make heaven sure,

      Yield not in the battle,

      Nor quail in the blast;

      The brave and unyielding

      Win nobly at last.

      Be never discouraged!

      By day and by night

      Have glory in prospect

      And wisdom in sight;

      Undaunted and faithful,

      You never will fail,

      Though kingdoms oppose you

      And devils assail.

      —D. C. Colesworthy.

      ———