Joseph A. Alexander - The Hidden Line

The Hidden Line (The Destiny of Men)

By: Joseph Addison Alexander (1809-1860)

There is a time, we know not when,

A point we know not where,

That marks the destiny of men

To glory or despair.

There is a line by us unseen,

That crosses every path;

The hidden boundary between

God’s patience and his wrath.

To pass that limit is to die–

To die as if by stealth;

It does not quench the beaming eye

Or pale the glow of health.

The conscience may be still at ease,

The spirit lithe and gay;

That which pleases still may please,

And care be thrust away

But on that forehead God has set,

Indelibly a mark

Unseen by men, for men as yet

Are blind and in the dark

And yet doomed man’s path below

May bloom as Eden bloomed;

He did not, does not, will not know,

Or feel that he is doomed

He knows, he feels that all is well,

And every fear is calmed;

He lives, he dies, he wakes in hell,

Not only doomed, but damned.

Oh, where is this mysterious bourn

By which our path is crossed;

Beyond which God himself hath sworn,

That he who goes is lost.

How far may we go on in sin?

How long will God forbear?

Where does hope end, and where begin

The confines of despair?

An answer from the skies is sent,

"Ye that from God depart,

While it is called today, repent,

And harden not your heart."

Tennyson - In Memoriam

In Memoriam
Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

   The flying cloud, the frosty light:

   The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

 

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

   The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

 

Ring out the grief that saps the mind

   For those that here we see no more;

   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

 

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

   And ancient forms of party strife;

   Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

 

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

   The faithless coldness of the times;

   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

 

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

   The civic slander and the spite;

   Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

 

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;

   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

   Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

 

Ring in the valiant man and free,

   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

   Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

On Quitting -Edgar Albert Guest

I have been living for some time now by the simple motto: "Don't Quit." I still hold to that mantra, but I read a great poem the other day by Edgar Albert Guest entitled "On Quitting."  I hope you get as much from it as I have.

On Quitting

by: Edgar Albert Guest

How much grit do you think you’ve got?

Can you quit a thing that you like a lot?

You may talk of pluck; it’s an easy word,

And where’er you go it is often heard;

But can you tell to a jot or guess

Just how much courage you now possess?

You may stand to trouble and keep your grin,

But have you tackled self-discipline?

Have you ever issued commands to you

To quit the things that you like to do,

And then, when tempted and sorely swayed,

Those rigid orders have you obeyed?

Don’t boast of your grit till you’ve tried it out,

Nor prate to men of your courage stout,

For it’s easy enough to retain a grin

In the face of a fight there’s a chance to win,

But the sort of grit that is good to own

Is the stuff you need when you’re all alone.

How much grit do you think you’ve got?

Can you turn from joys that you like a lot?

Have you ever tested yourself to know

How far with yourself your will can go?

If you want to know if you have grit,

Just pick out a joy that you like, and quit.

It’s bully sport and it’s open fight;

It will keep you busy both day and night;

For the toughest kind of a game you’ll find

Is to make your body obey your mind.

And you never will know what is meant by grit

Unless there’s something you’ve tried to quit.