If I Were A Sunbeam



  IF I were a sunbeam, 

  I know what I'd do: 

I would seek white lilies

Rainy woodlands through; 

I would steal among them,

Softest light I'd shed, 

Until every lily

Raised its drooping head.

"If I were a sunbeam,

I know where I'd go: 

Into lowliest hovels,

Dark with want and woe; 

Till sad hearts looked upward,

I would shine and shine; 

Then they'd think of Heaven,-

Their sweet home and mine.'

"Art thou not a sunbeam,

Child, whose life is glad 

With an inner radiance

Sunshine never had? 

Oh! As God hath blessed thee.

Scatter rays divine; 

For there is no sunbeam

But must die, or shine."