Classic Poem

What a cost to be pure! did e'er strike your mind,
That the gold so much prized in the fire was refined?
That the pearls of the deep by the divers are found,
That by peril of life their successes are crowned?

Yea, the trees of the orchard the pruner must know,
If they bring forth the finest of fruit that can grow;
And the knife is applied to the vine everywhere,
In production of grapes that are luscious and rare.

So in life we are taught by the pain and the loss,
That the road to the crown is by way of the cross;
And we pass through the furnace the Saviour to gain.
For with Him, if we suffer, with Him shall we reign.

It is good for the soul that afflictions abound,
That the way of the cross is the road to be crowned;
For the adder is seen on a sunshiny day,
And before we are tried our souls go astray.

We may weep for a night, but the morn bringeth joy,
Then the songs of rejoicing our tongues will employ;
Every storm that arises at some time must end,
Then the rainbow of promise and peace will attend.

There's a pearl of great price and for it must be paid
All the treasures of earth and a sacrifice made;
On the market is placed every idol and sold,
For the love of the Saviour is better than gold.

Ev'ry soul must afflictions and troubles endure,
As the gold must be tried so the soul be pure
As the pearl is secured at the peril of life,
So the soul in its triumph must pass through the strife.

Like the Saviour who suffered and went to His rest,
Must His servants on earth find the home of the blest,
There to tell Him the story of how in the past,
They surmounted the crosses and came home at last.