Look not before, Nor yet behind, The present is thy blessing; Doubt Him no more, But gladness find, His gracious gifts confessing.
Lift up thy heart, And like a King Rule o’er it, faithless never; Do well thy part, Till earth shall sing, And Heaven be thine forever.
TWO PATHS.
When eastern skies are bathed in mists of gray, And all the heralds of the night are gone, I watch two shadows, moving o’er the way, Beyond the dim, uncertain light of morn.
Adown the years they come, like fleeting dreams,— No sound disturbs the hush of daylight fair, Save song of bird, or many murmuring streams, Like sweetest music filling all the air.
Near, and yet nearer, till each sunlight ray Reveals no shadows, as they onward glide, But two young friends, upon life’s unknown way, Eager to journey o’er a path untried.
Youth knows no fear; the day is near at hand And Mother Earth breathes forth a welcome sweet; Thus do they wander o’er the sun-lit land Until they come to where the two paths meet.
They pause a moment, in their eager flight, Uncertain which to take upon the way; But choose the path now filled with morning light Where flowers bloom and gentle zephyrs play.
Now Pleasure points the way to paths unknown, The prospect brightens, as new scenes appear;— The world invites them,—they are not alone, But join a moving throng, who know no fear.