The fountain and the noonday shade.

And were this life the utmost span,
The only end and aim of man,
Better the toil of fields like these
Than waking dream and slothful ease.

But life, though falling like our grain,
Like that revives and springs again;
And, early called, how blest are they
Who wait in heaven their harvest-day!
1843.




TO THE REFORMERS OF ENGLAND.
This poem was addressed to those who like Richard Cobden and John Bright
were seeking the reform of political evils in Great Britain by peaceful
and Christian means. It will be remembered that the Anti-Corn Law League
was in the midst of its labors at this time.

GOD bless ye, brothers! in the fight
Ye 're waging now, ye cannot fail,
For better is your sense of right
Than king-craft's triple mail.

Than tyrant's law, or bigot's ban,
More mighty is your simplest word;
The free heart of an honest man