th I now condemn;
Guilty fears my soul o'erwhelm.
Lord, oh teach me what to do.
Make me faithful, make me true,
And the sacred trust renew.
Help me, ere too late it be,
Something yet to do for Thee,
Thou who hast done all for me.
Art thou little? Do thy little well;
And for thy comfort know
Great men can do their greatest work
No better than just so.
--Johann W. von Goethe.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR TALENTS
Thou that in life's crowded city art arrived, thou knowest not how--
By what path or on what errand--list and learn thine errand now.
From the palace to the city on the business of thy King
Thou wert sent at early morning, to return at evening.
Dreamer, waken; loiterer, hasten; what thy task is understand:
Thou art here to purchase substance, and the price is in thine hand.
Has the tumult of the market all thy sense confused and drowned?
Do its glittering wares entice thee, or its shouts and cries confound?
Oh, beware lest thy Lord's business be forgotten, while thy gaze
Is on every show and pageant which the giddy square displays.
Barter not his gold for pebbles; do not trade in vanities;
Pearls there are of price and jewels for the purchase of the wise.
And know this--at thy returning thou wilt surely find the King
With an open book before Him, waiting to make reckoning.
Thus large honors will the faithful, earnest service of one day
Reap of Him; but one day's folly largest penalties will pay.
--Richard Chenevix Trench.
Not once or twice in our fair island-story
The path of duty was the way to glory.
He, that ever following her commands,
On with toil of heart and knees and hands,
Thro' the long gorge to the far light has won
His path upward, and prevailed,
Shall find the toppling crags of Duty scaled
Are close upon the shining table-lands
To which our God himself is moon and sun.
--Alfred Tennyson.
GO RIGHT ON WORKING
Ah, yes! the task is hard, 'tis true,
But what's the use of sighing?
They're soonest with their duties through
Who bravely keep on trying.
There's no advantage to be found
In sorrowing or shirking;
They with success are soonest crowned
Who just go right on working.
Strive patiently and with a will
That shall not be defeated;
Keep singing
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