Poems (Hoffman)/Life's Aim

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

L1FE'S AIM.

Not for love, or fame, or pleasure,
 Let me live;
Not for any golden treasure,
 Life may give.

Fame's a phantom, love but human,
 Gold a snare;
Just to be a useful woman
 Is my prayer.

Not from wealth, or fame, or beauty,
 Cometh bliss;
Blooms alone by paths of duty,
 Happiness.

Let me not grow sad and weary
 In the race;
Ever keep a kind and cheery
 Heart and face.

Worth, be thou the crown and zenith
 Of my aim,
Weighed with thee, how little meaneth
 Beauty, wealth or fame.