To man is given the keys of heaven
If they be rightly used;
No being born but must be shorn
If blessings are abused.
Keep well the trust! Guard it we must,
From in and outward foes,
Strength will be gained, might be attained
By efforts to oppose
The secret vice that doth entice
To ruin and despair;
But he who will hath power to kill
Such vice within its lair.
Let habits grand the life command
And Eden is regained;
No future bliss need surpass this
If habits are unstained.
Let smiling face your presence grace
And earth will smile on you,
Let from the tongue a song be sung,
Its echo will be true,
And sing again the same refrain
Upon the selfsame key,
Till airs elate, reverberate,
Heaven's sweetest minstrelsy.
If we extend a hand to friend
Who needs a brother's care,
Though it may hold no purse of gold
The act he will revere.
Scarce do we know whence comes the glow
That duty done e'er gives,
Its altar-fire cannot expire—
Here and hereafter lives.
Such habits then, for gods and men,
Are but the means whereby
They may prepare to gain their share
To mansions in the sky.
Sing then a song, its notes prolong,
In praise of Habit's power;
Let custom be from evil free
And it will blessings shower.