Potential Moods

I sit and dream

Of the time that prophets have long foretold,

Of an age surpassing the age of gold,

Which the eyes of the selfish can never behold,

When truth and love shall be owned supreme.

I think and weep

O'er the thousands oppressed by sin and woe,

O'er the long procession of those who go,

Through ignorance, error, and passions low,

To the unsought bed of their dreamless sleep.

I wait and long

For the sway of justice, the rule of right;

For the glad diffusion of wisdom's light;

For the triumph of liberty over might;

For the day when the weak shall be free from the strong.

I work and sing

To welcome the dawn of the fairer day,

When crime and sin shall have passed away,

When men shall live as well as they pray,

And earth with the gladness of heaven shall ring.

I trust and hope

In the tide of God's love that unceasingly rolls,

In the dear words of promise that bear up our souls,

In the tender compassion that sweetly consoles,

When in death's darkened valley we tremblingly grope.

I toil and pray

For the beauty excelling all forms of art;

For the blessing that comes to the holy heart;

For the hope that foretells, and seems a part

Of the life and joy of the heavenly day.