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Poems (Procter)/Sowing and Reaping

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4678648Poems — Sowing and ReapingAdelaide Anne Procter
SOWING AND REAPING.
SLOW with a generous hand;Pause not for toil or pain;Weary not through the heat of summer,Weary not through the cold spring rain;But wait till the autumn comesFor the sheaves of golden grain.
Scatter the seed, and fear not,A table will be spread;What matter if you are too wearyTo eat your hard-earned bread:Sow, while the earth is broken,For the hungry must be fed.
Sow;—while the seeds are lyingIn the warm earth's bosom deep,And your warm tears fall upon it,—They will stir in their quiet sleep;And the green blades rise the quicker,Perchance, for the tears you weep.
Then sow;—for the hours are fleeting,And the seed must fall to-day;And care not what hands shall reap it,Or if you shall have passed awayBefore the waving corn-fieldsShall gladden the sunny day.
Sow; and look onward, upward,Where the starry light appears,—Where, in spite of the coward's doubting,Or your own heart's trembling fears,You shall reap in joy the harvestYou have sown to-day in tears.