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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOVE AND LABOR, by                    
First Line: "we die not at all, for our deeds remain"
Last Line: "but love lives ever, for love is god"
Subject(s): God;love


WE die not at all, for our deeds remain
To crown with honor or mar with stain;
Through endless sequence of years to come
Our lives shall speak when our lips are dumb.

What though we perish, unknown to fame,
Our tomb forgotten and lost our name,
Since nought is wasted in heaven or earth,
And nothing dies to which God gives birth!

Though life be joyless and death be cold,
And pleasures pall as the world grows old,
Yet God has granted our hearts relief,
For Love and Labor can conquer grief.

Love sheds a light on the gloomy way,
And Labor hurries the weary day;
Though death be fearful and life be hard,
Yet Love and Labor shall win reward.

If Love can dry up a single tear,
If life-long Labor avail to clear
A single web from before the true
Then Love and Labor have won their due.

What though we mourn, we can comfort pain;
What if we die, so the truth be plain!
A little spark from a high desire
Shall kindle others, and grow a fire.

We are not worthy to work the whole,
We have no strength which may have a soul;
Enough for us if our life begin
Successful struggles with grief and sin.

Labor is mortal and fades away,
But Love shall triumph in perfect day;
Labor may wither beneath the sod,
But Love lives ever, for Love is God.





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