Spirits too tender for the battle here Have turned from life, its hopes, its fears, its charms; And children, shuddering at a world so drear, Have smiling passed away into his arms. He whom thou fearest will, to ease its pain, Lay his cold hand upon thy aching heart: Will soothe the terrors of thy troubled brain, And bid the shadow of earth's grief depart. He will give back what neither time, nor might, Nor passionate prayer, nor longing hope restore. (Dear as to long blind eyes recovered sight,) He will give back those who are gone before. Oh, what were life, if life were all? Thine eyes Are blinded by their tears, or thou wouldst see Thy treasures wait thee in the far-off skies, And Death, thy friend, will give them all to thee. VERSE: A DREAM All yesterday I was spinning, Sitting alone in the sun; And the dream that I spun was so lengthy, It lasted till day was done. I heeded not cloud or shadow That flitted over the hill, Or the humming-bees, or the swallows, Or the trickling of the rill. I took the threads for my spinning, All of blue summer air, And a flickering ray of sunlight Was woven in here and there. The shadows grew longer and longer, The evening wind passed by, And the purple splendour of sunset Was flooding the western sky. But I could not leave my spinning, For so fair my dream had grown. I heeded not, hour by hour, How the silent day had flown. At last the grey shadows fell round me, And the night came dark and chill, And I rose and ran down the valley, And left it all on the hill. I went up the hill this morning To the place where my spinning lay-- There was nothing but glistening dewdrops Remained of my dream to-day. VERSE: THE PRESENT Do not crouch to-day, and worship The old Past, whose life is fled, Hush your voice to tender reverence; Crowned he lies, but cold and dead: For the Present reigns our monarch, With an added weight of hours; Honour her, for she is mighty! Honour her, for she is ours! See the shadows of his heroes Girt around her cloudy throne; Every day the ranks are strengthened By great hearts to him unknown; Noble things the great Past promised, Holy dreams, both strange and new; But the Present shall fulfil them, What he promised, she shall do. She inherits all his treasures, She is heir to all his fame, And the light that lightens round her Is the lustre of his name; She is wise with all his wisdom, Living on his grave she stands, On her brow she bears his laurels, And his harvest in her hands. Coward, can she reign and conquer If we thus her glory dim? Let us fight for her as nobly As our fathers fought for him. God, who crowns the dying ages, Bids her rule, and us obey-- Bids us cast our lives before her, Bids us serve the great To-day. VERSE: CHANGES