Classic Poem

The world is gray, and bleak, and drear.
The trees are reft of leaves, and stark
Are standing yellow in the sere,
And round me hover spectres dark—
But what care I?
Have I not still the smiling sky
So deeply blue
Of hue,
To send me hope from up on high?

My cherished plans have gone astray,
And schemes with great ambition fraught
Have come to ruin in the fray,
And left me weary and distraught—
And yet afar
I see a friendly twinkling star,
That lures me still
With will
To labor where life's treasures are!

Give me the blessed stars, and skies,
With just a glimpse of sea besides,
Upon whose waves the sunlight lies,
And fades into the moonlit tides!
Then shall I be
Unmoved by what Fate holds for me
Of weal or woe,
And do
The task that's mine exultantly!