The Evansville Journal

ENCOURAGEMENT.
BY D. BRINARD WILLIAMS.
When the night is chill and dark,
When the waves sweep o'er Life's bark,
And the soul shrinks in its ark,
Fearful lest it reach the shore,
Then 'tis well to lift the eye,
Faith-lit to the frowning sky,
Where Hope's torch-flame, blazing high,
Bids us labor but the more.
Stand the bolder at your post;
Dare the angry, billowy host;
Make of life the very most;
Take new strength and wield the helm.
He who notes the sparrow's fall
Guardeth both the great and small.
Trust Him, then, through dangers all,
Though they threaten to o'erwhelm.
If the bright blooms of the heart
In the cold wind's shrieking start,
Quiver, pale and drop apart,
Faded blessings, to the dust,
It is peace for us to know
They will bloom in deeper glow,
For our vision, when we go
To the Kingdom of the Just.
Then oh, faint not at the oar!
Be ye stronger than before;
See, by faith, the pleasant shore;
Brave the storm, the billows breast.
Soon the light will pierce the dark,
Golden waters lave the bark,
And the soul leap from its ark,
In the Harbors of the Blest!