PERSEVERANCE.




ONE step and then another, 

And the longest walk is ended; 

One stitch and then another,

And the largest rent is mended; 

One brick upon another,

And the highest wall is made; 

One flake upon another, 

And the deepest snow is laid.

So the little coral workers,

By their slow and constant motion, 

Have built those pretty islands

In the distant dark-blue ocean; 

And the noblest undertakings

Man's wisdom hath conceived, 

By oft-repeated effort

Have been patiently achieved.

Then do not look disheartened

On the work you have to do, 

And say that such a mighty task

You never can get through; 

But just endeavor day by day

Another point to gain, 

And soon the mountain, which you feared,

Will prove to be a plain!

"Rome was not built in a day,"

The ancient proverb teaches, 

And Nature, by her trees and flowers,

The same sweet sermon preaches. 

Think not of far-off duties,

But of doing what is near; 

And having once begun to work,

Resolve to persevere.


--------------



TRIFLES



.

THE massive gates of circumstance 

Are turned upon the smallest hinge,

And thus some seeming pettiest chance 

Oft gives our life its after tinge.

The trifles of our daily lives,