Poem October 24, 1903 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 fear-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 of earth, will not have been in vain.

The purest joy,
Most near to heaven, far from earth's alloy,
Is bidding cloud 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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