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LIFE'S RIVER.
Woe and pain and grief and anguishStill must be the lot of mortals.Oft the noble soul grows nobler,Stronger made through what it suffers;Driven from the sunny islandsOf earth's joys, so bright, but fleeting,To the everlasting mountains,To the heights beyond, above it,With imploring gaze it turneth,Asking for the smiles of HeavenAnd the love of God and angels.And in far-off realms of glory,Where eternal skies are gleaming,Where no shadows e'er have fallen,And the night hath never entered,All earth's sorrow-stricken children,Trusting in the arm Almighty,Dwell at last in peace and gladness.When are past life's storms and tempests,All its shadows and its darkness,Then in loving tones the spirit,Bound no more to earth's dominions,In its holy joy may utter,'Even for the hour of anguishI would praise Thee, O my Father.'"
