By Park Benjamin.
Press on! there’s no such word as fail;
Press nobly on! the goal is near—
Ascend the mountain! breast the gale!
Look upward, onward—never fear!
Why shouldst thou faint? Heaven rules above.
Though storm and vapor intervene
The sun shines on, whose name is love,
Serenely o’er life’s shadowed scene.
Press on! If Fortune plays thee false
Today, tomorrow she’ll be true;
Whom now she sinks she now exalts,
Taking old gifts and granting new.
The wisdom of the present hour
Makes up for follies past and gone;
To weakness strength succeeds, and power
From frailty springs—press on! press on!
—The Carpenter.