Success

As we gaze up life's slope, as we gaze

In the morn, ere the dewdrops are dry,

What splendour hangs over the ways,

What glory gleams there in the sky,

What pleasures seem waiting for us, high

On the peak of that beauteous slope,

What rainbow-hued colours of hope,

As we gaze!

As we climb up the hill, as we climb,

Our hearts, our illusions, are rent:

For Fate, who is the spouse of old Time,

Is jealous of youth and content.

With brows that are brooding and bent

She shadows our sunlight of gold,

And the way grows lonely and cold

As we climb.

As we toil on, through trouble and pain,

There are hands that will shelter and feed;

But once let us dare to ATTAIN -

They will bruise our bare hearts till they bleed.

'Tis the worst of all crimes to succeed,

Know this as ye feast on a crust,

Know this in the darkness and dust,

Ye who climb.

As we stand on the heights of success,

Lo! success seems as sad as defeat!

Through our lives,we may succour and bless

Alone may its litter turn sweet!

And the world lying there at our feet,

With its cavilling praise and its sneer,

We must pity, condone, but not hear,

Where we stand.

As we live on those heights, we must live

With the courage and pride of a god;

For the world, it has nothing to give

But the scourge of the lash and the rod.

Our thoughts must be noble and broad,

Our purpose must challenge men's gaze,

While we seek not their blame or their praise

As we live.