Poems (Hoffman)/Going Down Hill
GOING DOWN HILL
You may not travel very fast When first you've started down,You may not stumble at the first And fall and break your crown,You may find only flowery slopes So easy to descend;But heed a warning voice, in time, 'Tis not so at the end.
Steeper and steeper will become The dark defiles before,Faster and faster grow your speed "Till you behold, no more,The grassy slopes, the flowery glens, The first bright shallow rillYou crossed, with such a buoyant tread, When starting down the hill.
You may be half way down, if so, Just pause awhile and think,'Twill be too late for thought, you know When quaking on the brinkOf the great, awful precipice, To which your footsteps tend,You surely would retrace your steps Could you but see the end.
Though near the end, there may be hope And help and safety still,Stop! learn where you are standing now On this great moral hill;Ponder on all that's gained before And all that's lost behind,Turn back, and purer, clearer air At each brave effort, find.
Help from a strong arm, reaching down From Heaven, in mercy ask;Remember every step you climb, Easier grows your task.Above you lie the flowery slopes And sunny, taintless air;Below, oh, stagnant, poisonous sloughs And cruel rocks are there!
Yet though brave hearts may strive in time To warn you, if you will,In spite of friends and Heaven and sense, You'll travel down the hill;When mangled by your awful fall Into a dark abyss,Remember that a friendly voice Warned you in time of this.