I tell you the future can hold no terrors For any sad soul while the stars revolve, If he will stand firm on the grave of his errors, And instead of regretting, resolve, resolve. It is never too late to begin rebuilding, Though all into ruins your life seems hurled, For see how the light of the New Year is gilding The wan, worn face of the bruised old world. OPTIMISM. I’m no reformer; for I see more light Than darkness in the world; mine eyes are quick To catch the first dim radiance of the dawn, And slow to note the cloud that threatens storm. The fragrance and the beauty of the rose Delight me so, slight thought I give its thorn; And the sweet music of the lark’s clear song Stays longer with me than the night hawk’s cry. And e’en in this great throe of pain called Life I find a rapture linked with each despair, Well worth the price of anguish. I detect More good than evil in humanity. Love lights more fires than hate extinguishes, And men grow better as the world grows old. PAIN’S PROOF. I think man’s great capacity for pain Proves his immortal birthright. I am sure No merely human mind could bear the strain Of some tremendous sorrows we endure. Art’s most ingenious breastworks fail at length Beat by the mighty billows of the sea; Only the God-formed shores possess the strength To stand before their onslaughts, and not flee. The structure that we build with careful toil, The tempest lays in ruins in an hour; While some grand tree that springs forth from the soil Is bended but not broken by its power. Unless our souls had root in soil divine We could not bear earth’s overwhelming strife. The fiercest pain that racks this heart of mine, Convinces me of everlasting life. IMMORTALITY.