SWEETNESS IN SORROW.
‘TIS sweet to learn the happy art
Of culling, from each bitter smart,
The gems of hallowed pleasure;
For, though long hidden from our eyes,
Within our rugged grief oft lies
A wealth of diamond treasure.
And if we cut with skillful care
The mold that hides the jewel rare,
Soon will its dazzling beauty
Flash brightly on our raptured sight,
With crystal rays of living light
Illuming the path of duty.
We climb the cliffs that we may eat
The grapes that hang in clusters sweet,
Along the rocks eternal;
And gaze, with more than rapture, through
The diamond-sprinkled arch of blue,
Into the land supernal.
We wander through earth's tangling maze,
'Mong sunken snares and slippery ways,
That in our grief's completeness,
Our heavenly Guide may nearer come,
Changing the wild to Eden's bloom,
With love's enchanting sweetness.
So, when the briars pierce our feet,
We'll say, "There must be roses sweet,
Just here, worth our possessing,"
And spend no more the grief-stung hours
In murmuring, but in search for flowers,
Twined with celestial blessing.
-Select