Poem January 16, 1902 Issue

If I Can Live

Helen Hunt Jackson

If I can live To make some pale face brighter, and to give A second lustre to some tear-dimmed eye, Or e'en impart One throb of comfort to an aching heart, Or cheer some wayworn soul in passing by;

If I can lend A strong hand to the fallen, or defend The right against a single envious strain, My life, though bare Perhaps of much that seemeth dear and fair To us on earth, will not have been in vain.

The purest joy, Most near to heaven, far from earth's alloy, Is bidding clouds give way to sun and shine, And 'twill be well If on that day of days the angels tell Of me: "She did her best for one of Thine."

Helen Hunt Jackson.

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