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LIFE'S RIVER.
Yonder bright and sunny islandsAre the isles of joy and gladness,—Joys so bright, but brief and fleeting.Askest thou of yon dark islands?There Remorse, like some wan specter,To and fro is wand'ring ever.And when mortals, wand'ring, erring,Love no more the good and noble,Love no more the pure and holy,Spirits from the realms of darknessUrge them onward to those surges,To those dark and fatal islands;With Despair's black, starless midnightHanging with its gloom above them,There in hopelessness they perish,Lost to earth and lost to heaven.Sometimes tearful-eyed Repentance,Ere they reach those fearful islands,Guides them to some quiet haven.But their barks are tempest-beaten;They have lost fair Truth's bright blossoms,Most of Wisdom's precious jewels;Only after toil and labor,After weary, weary waitings,Can they gain more of those treasures.So they find, although RepentanceSanctifieth, while it blesseth,
