Classic Poem

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 should'st thou faint? Heaven smiles above
Though storm and vapor intervene;
That sun shines on, whose name is Love,
Serenely o'er Life's shadowed scene.

Press on! surmount the rocky steeps,
Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch;
He fails alone who feebly creeps,
He wins who dares the hero's march.
Be thou a hero! let thy might
Tramp on eternal snows its way,
And through the ebon walls of Night
Hew down a passage unto Day.

Press on! if once and twice thy feet
Slip back and stumble, harder try;
From him who never dreads to meet
Danger and Death, they're sure to fly.
To coward ranks the bullet speeds,
While on their breasts, who never quail,
Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds,
Bright courage like a coat of mail.

Press on! if Fortune play thee false
To-day, to-morrow 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!

Press on! what though upon the ground
Thy love has been poured out like rain?
That happiness is always found
The sweetest, which is born of pain.
Oft 'mid the forest's deepest glooms
A bird sings from some blighted tree,
And in the dreariest desert blooms
A never-dying rose for thee.

Therefore press on! and reach the goal
And gain the prize and wear the crown;
Faint not! for to the steadfast soul
Come wealth and honor and renown.
To thine own self be true, and keep
Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil:
Press on! and thou shalt surely reap
A heavenly harvest for thy toil!