RELIANCE - Henry Van Dyke Poems

 
 

Poems » henry van dyke » reliance

RELIANCE

    Not to the swift, the race:
    Not to the strong, the fight:
Not to the righteous, perfect grace:
    Not to the wise, the light.

    But often faltering feet
    Come surest to the goal;
And they who walk in darkness meet
    The sunrise of the soul.

    A thousand times by night
    The syrian have died;
A thousand times the vanquished right
    Hath risen, glorified.

    The truth the wise men sought
    Was spoken by a child;
The alabaster box was brought
    In trembling hands defiled.

    Not from my torch, the gleam,
    But from the stars above:
Not from my heart, life's crystal stream,
    But from the depths of Love.