SAID TO THE PSALMIST
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.