Hold fast—hold fast your dreams!

[ferine]

The Fighter

I fight a battle every day
Against discouragement and fear;
Some foe stands always in my way,
The path ahead is never clear!

I must forever be on guard
Against the doubts that skulk along;
I get ahead by fighting hard,
But fighting keeps my spirit strong.

I hear the croakings of Despair,
The dark predictions of the weak;
I find myself pursued by Care,
No matter what the end I seek;
My victories are small and few,
It matters not how hard I strive;
Each day the fight begins anew,
But fighting keeps my hopes alive.

My dreams are spoiled by circumstance,
My plans are wrecked by Fate or Luck;
Some hour, perhaps, will come my chance,
But that great hour has never struck;
My progress has been slow and hard,
I've had to climb and crawl and swim,
Fighting for ever stubborn yard;
But I have kept in fighting trim.

I have to fight my doubts away
And be on guard against my fears;
The feeble croaking of Dismay
Has been familiar through the years;
My dearest plans keep going wrong,
Events combine to thwart my will;
But fighting keeps my spirit strong,
And I am undefeated still!
by Samuel Ellsworth Kiser (1862-1942)


Nurse No Long Grief

Oh, could we weep,
And weeping bring relief!
But life asks more than tears
And falling leaf.

Though year by year
Tears fall and leaves are shed,
Spring bids new sap arise,
And blood run red.

Nurse no long grief
Lest the heart flower no more;
Grief builds no barns; its plough
Rusts at the door.
by Dame Mary Gilmore DBE (1865-1962)


Hope

I.
Hope is the Sailor
On every sea,—
Never a failer
Nor falterer he!
Tho' the waves rise up
Tho' the skies fall,
Hope ever flies up
High over all!

II.
Hope is the Soldier
In every zone,
Blyther and bolder
Never was known!
Tho' perils thicken
Till chaos begins,
Stout and unstricken
He fights till he wins!

III.
Hope is the Merchant
For every clime,—
Active and urgent
And outbidding Time!
Nations may flounder,
Kingdoms be broke,—
His credit's sounder
Than Britain's own oak!

IV.
Hope is the Brother
To the world's end,—
Never another
Half such a friend!
Spite of all sadness
Peril and pain,
Hope! be my gladness
Glory and gain!
by Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810-1889)


Hold Fast Your Dreams

Hold fast your dreams!
Within your heart
Keep one still, secret spot
Where dreams may go,
And, sheltered so,
May thrive and grow
Where doubt and fear are not.
O keep a place apart,
Within your heart,
For little dreams to go!

Think still of lovely things that are not true.
Let wish and magic work at will in you.
Be sometimes blind to sorrow. Make believe!
Forget the calm that lies
In disillusioned eyes.
Though we all know that we must die,
Yes you and I
May walk like gods and be
Even now at home in immortality.

We see so many ugly things—
Deceits and wrongs and quarrelings;
We know, alast we know
How quickly fade
The color in the west,
The bloom upon the flower,
The bloom upon the breast
And youth's blind hour.
Yet keep within your heart
A place apart
Where little dreams may go,
May thrive and grow.
Hold fast—hold fast your dreams!
by Louise Driscoll (1875-1957)