Oppressive walls
Instinctively expand,
And sunny fields unfold on either hand,
As singing rills repeat the blithe bird calls.
We walk in breezy woodland bowers,
Seeing the flowers.
The burdened brain
Submissive to their spell
Is quick to heed the gentle tale they tell:
No baby blossom ever blooms in vain.
Borne from their dreamy, dewy bowers;
Cherish the flowers.
RECOMPENSE.
After the shadows, sunshine;
Quiet after the pain;
Light for the mountain passes
And for the desert rain.
After the shadows, sunshine,
After the failure, success;
Never a pleasure is taken
But something is given to bless.
THE WAY.
The way may be rough,
And our footsteps may falter,
Though foeman rebuff,
The right cannot alter;
As upward we climb
Each trouble outbraving,
More sweet and sublime
Is the boon we are craving.
The way may be long,
And the day may be dreary;
The world is not wrong
Because we are weary.
A cloud may annoy,
But soon shall we read it
By light of the joy
And the peace that succeed it.