Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, STRIVE, WAIT, PRAY, by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

STRIVE, WAIT, PRAY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Strive: yet I do not promise
Last Line: Yet strive, and wait, and pray.
Alternate Author Name(s): Berwick, Mary
Subject(s): Prayer


STRIVE; yet I do not promise
The prize you dream of to-day
Will not fade when you think to grasp it,
And melt in your hand away;
But another and holier treasure,
You would now perchance disdain,
Will come when your toil is over,
And pay you for all your pain.

Wait; yet I do not tell you
The hour you long for now
Will not come with its radiance vanished,
And a shadow upon its brow;
Yet far through the misty future,
With a crown of starry light,
An hour of joy you know not
Is winging her silent flight.

Pray; though the gift you ask for
May never comfort your fears,
May never repay your pleading,
Yet pray, and with hopeful tears;
An answer, not that you long for,
But diviner, will come one day;
Your eyes are too dim to see it,
Yet strive, and wait, and pray.





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