By the Sea, and Other Verses

<h2><SPAN name="THE_END_OF_THE_ROAD" id="THE_END_OF_THE_ROAD">THE END OF THE ROAD</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Do you wonder at my smiling?<br/></span> <span class="i0">Do you wonder that I faint not 'neath the burden of my load?<br/></span> <span class="i8">O, the gloom and toil and duty<br/></span> <span class="i8">Change to light and praise and beauty<br/></span> <span class="i0">While I'm looking toward the end of the road.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Though the way is long and dreary,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And I languish for a happier, a more serene abode,<br/></span> <span class="i8">As the light of earth grows dimmer,<br/></span> <span class="i8">Looking up, I see the glimmer<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of its glory at the end of the road.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Though the talent seemeth meager,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And my Sovereign Lord doth gather, ever, where He hath not strowed,<br/></span> <span class="i8">Yet I would not therefore spurn it,<br/></span> <span class="i8">But "with usury" return it,<br/></span> <span class="i0">At His coming at the end of the road.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Though I now go forth with weeping,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If I bear the precious seed which the Master would have sowed,<br/></span> <span class="i8">I shall come again with singing,<br/></span> <span class="i8">Sheaves of plenty with me bringing<br/></span> <span class="i0">To His harvest at the end of the road.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Peace shall follow tribulation:<br/></span> <span class="i0">This the boon Divine Compassion upon mortal hath bestowed;<br/></span> <span class="i8">Heavy now the cross I'm bearing;<br/></span> <span class="i8">Bright the crown I'll soon be wearing<br/></span> <span class="i0">In the Temple at the end of the road.<br/></span></div> </div> <hr class="full" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />