INCOMPLETENESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2094, 22 March 1889, Page 2

INCOMPLETENESS.

Not he who first beholds the aloe grow, May think to gaze upon its perfeot flower; He tends, he hopes; but ere the -blossom blow, , ._. There needs a oentury of snn and shower. He shall not see the produot of his toil ; Tet were his work negleoted or ill-done, Did he not prune the boughs and dig the soil, That perfect blossom ne'er might meet the sun. Perhaps he has no presoience of its hde, No sight its form and fragrance to foretell ; Yet m eaoh sun- shaft, m eaoh bed of dew. Faith, passing knowledge, tells him he does well. Our lives, O fellow-men 1 pass even so ; We watch and toil, and withont deeming gain : The future, which no mortal may foreknow, May prove our labour was not all m vain. But what we sow we may.not. bope.tftjreap j Perfeot fruition may not seek to win : Not till, work-weary, we have fallen asleep; Shall blossom blow or fruit be gathered m. Let it be So. Upon our darkened eyas A light more pare than noontide rjhrs shall shine, If pain of ours have helped our race to rise By just one hair's breadth nearer the divine 4 Upward and outward, plan.t-like, life ex. tends ; Grows fairer as it doth the more aspire ; Never completed, evermore it Bends* - A branoh out, striving higher still, and higher ; '„, " Beoause so great, it must be incomplete, Have endless possibilities of growth, Strength to grow stronger, sweetness still more sweet, Yearning towards God, who is the aoarae of botb. — " Chambers' Journal." *