Not Lost.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2054, 5 September 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Not Lost.

BY MRS. M. S. OfPUTT.

All is not lost when our ships go down That we've frei^itei with hope and launched with care, And watched with pride aa they sailed away When the sea was smooth and the wind was fair, And looked for long when they oame not again, But were wreoked far oat on the billowy main. All is not lost ; we may send out more Thftt will weather the gales till the storms be past, And with colors flying and with sails unfurled Will gallantly steer into port at last ; And their coming at length will surely repay The anxious watoh ing and weary delay. All ia not lost when our best laid sohemes Suddenly crumble and turn to decay ; "When we build our plans on the shifting sands And the tides oome in and wash them away. IE our plans are unwise and we see them collapse, We will build with more prudence next time, perhaps. All is not lost when we bear out our dead, Under the sod in their ooflios to lie, Then sadly return to our desolate homes To weep and to mourn as the days go by— And we misa the sound of their coming feet And listen no more for their voioes sweet. All is not lost, for to us they yet live ; We know that earth's farewell?, though bitter, are brief ; In God's good time we shall clasp them again In a land unshadowed by care and grief ; For earthward they look, and stand and wait To welcome us in tbroilgh the Heavenly gate. Say not then in despair that all ia lost When the fairest hopes of life fade away : Think not the bright visions that dawn on us here Are but mocking mirages to lure us astray. Tbere are songs in the night, and a golden ray To light up the gloom of the darkest day.