EVIL has brought forth good, but good in turn Brings evil forth, and painfully we learn The rich resulting harmony of life: Triumphant glories, that most brightly burn, Last not the longest; for the worth of strife Consists not in the crown the victors earn. The man who truly strives can never fail; For though at set of sun The battle is not won, And he is left, despairing and alone; Yet through the gloom, when flesh and spirit quail, New radiance flashes, e'en to hope unknown. He that can walk in darkness, will not slip Although some bright surprise At first may blind his eyes; The ancient glow comes back to heart and lip, And tears remembered make his laughter wise. Fresh love and joy, not seeking, he shall find, While Truth at last her promised garland weaves, Not of gay roses or green laurels twined, But bright with scarlet berries, amber leaves. In some fair glade he seems awhile to rest, All Dead Sea fruits forgot; Wild songsters chant, while breezes blow; His path is overgrown, his brow caressed By blossoms, that he did not sow, And foliage, that he tended not. And what though once, in vain yet noble quest, With burning feet and eyeballs dim, He strove to scale volcanic heights of power? Since on the fertile terrace grew for him Wisdom and Love, rich fruit and glorious flower. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SHALL I SAY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO MY CLASS: ON CERTAIN FRUITS AND FLOWERS SENT ... SICKNESS by SIDNEY LANIER THE BEGGAR'S OPERA: SONG. AIR 16: OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY by JOHN GAY THE RUINED MAID by THOMAS HARDY THE TRIUMPH OF TIME by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE |