Leaving thy outgrown shell by life's unresting sea.”
Dr. Frederic Hedge included the poem in his hymn-book but without any singing-supplement to the words.
WHITTIER'S SERVICE SONG.
It may not be our lot to wield
The sickle in the harvest field.
If this stanza and the four following do not reveal all the strength of John G. Whittier's spirit, 295 / 251 they convey its serious sweetness. The verses were loved and prized by both President Garfield and President McKinley. On the Sunday before the latter went from his Canton, O., home to his inauguration in Washington the poem was sung as a hymn at his request in the services at the Methodist church where he had been a constant worshipper.
The second stanza is the one most generally recognized and oftenest quoted:
Yet where our duty's task is wrought
In unison with God's great thought,
The near and future blend in one,
And whatsoe'er is willed, is done.