SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY
In the summer morning, the road
Of death, at a call unforeseen,
Sudden. For fifteen years, 3°
We who till then in thy shade
Rested as under the boughs
Of a mighty oak, have endured
Sunshine and rain as we might,
Bare, unshaded, alone, 35
Lacking the shelter erf thee.
O strong soul, by what shore
Tarriest thou now? For that force,
Surely, has not been left vain !
Somewhere, surely, afar, 4°
In the sounding labour-house vast
Of being, is practised that strength,
Zealous, beneficent, firm !
Yes, in some far-shining sphere,
Conscious or not of the past, 45
Still thou performest the word
Of the Spirit in whom thou dost live—
Prompt, unwearied, as here!
Still thou upraisest with zeal
The humble good from the ground, 50
Sternly repressest the bad;
Still, like a trumpet, dost rouse
Those with half-open eyes
Tread the border-land dim
'Twixt vice and virtue; reviv'st, 55
Succourest!—This was thy work,
This was thy life upon earth.
What is the course of the life
Of mortal men on the earth ?—
293