Classic Poem

SOUL ADVANCES .

H E , who with fervent toil and will austere,
His innate forces, and high faculties,
Develops ever, with firm aim, and wise, —
He only keeps his spiritual vision clear;
To him earth's treacherous shadows shift and veer
Like idle mists o'ercrowding windless skies,
Where through ofttimes to purged and prayerful eyes,
The steadfast heavens seem beckoning calm and near: —
Still, o'er life's rugged heights, with many a slip,
And painful pause he journeys, and sad fall,
Toward death's dark strand, washed by a mystic sea; —
There her worn cable straining to be free,
He sees, and enters Faith's majestic ship,
To sail — where'er the voice of God may call!