PERSEVERANCE.
ONE step and then another,
And the longest walk is ended;
One stitch and then another,
And the largest rent is mended;
One brick upon another,
And the highest wall is made;
One flake upon another,
And the deepest snow is laid.
So the little coral workers,
By their slow and constant motion,
Have built those pretty islands
In the distant dark-blue ocean;
And the noblest undertakings
Man's wisdom hath conceived,
By oft-repeated effort
Have been patiently achieved.
Then do not look disheartened
On the work you have to do,
And say that such a mighty task
You never can get through;
But just endeavor day by day
Another point to gain,
And soon the mountain, which you feared,
Will prove to be a plain!
"Rome was not built in a day,"
The ancient proverb teaches,
And Nature, by her trees and flowers,
The same sweet sermon preaches.
Think not of far-off duties,
But of doing what is near;
And having once begun to work,
Resolve to persevere.
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TRIFLES
.
THE massive gates of circumstance
Are turned upon the smallest hinge,
And thus some seeming pettiest chance
Oft gives our life its after tinge.
The trifles of our daily lives,