Poems (Van Rensselaer)/Say not thou art Content

by Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer

SAY NOT THOU ART CONTENT

Stand upright in the silence, soul, to bear
  Thy burden undismayed; cry not
It is too heavy; take up thy great share
  Of the world's great anguish as thy lot
Predestined from the dawn of days; so fill
Thy veins with fortitude; accept; be still.

But say not, soul, say not thou art content;
  Strive not for any will to say
As so it is, so best. Make no lament,
  Walk proudly, but call not the way,
Cruel beneath thy feet, dim to thy sight,
Better than paths of grass and shining light.

Sin not as they who, though it cut young grain,
  Aver the scythe beneficent,
As they who in the darkness of wild rain
  Preach heaven's high blue less excellent.
Blaspheme not thus the life he would have led,
Or thy deep need of him, too early dead.