Poems (Procter)/Strive, Wait, and Pray
STRIVE, WAIT, AND PRAY.
TRIVE; yet I do not promise The prize you dream of to-dayWill not fade when you think to grasp it, And melt in your hand away;But another and holier treasure, You would now perchance disdain,Will come when your toil is over, And pay you for all your pain.Wait; yet I do not tell you The hour you long for now Will not come with its radiance vanished, And a shadow upon its brow;Yet far through the misty future, With a crown of starry light,An hour of joy you know not Is winging her silent flight.
Pray; though the gift you ask for May never comfort your fears,May never repay your pleading, Yet pray, and with hopeful tears;An answer, not that you long for, But diviner, will come one day;Your eyes are too dim to see it, Yet strive, and wait, and pray.