Classic Poem

Men change, flags change, and border lines
Move north or south, and east or west;
But still the great unaltered pines
In centuries of green are dressed;
In warmer lands the quiet palm
Still wears its calm.

Truth stands, God reigns, Christ walks today,
Love lives within the hearts of men;
The things that seem to pass away
A little while, return again.
A little while the shadows fall,
And that is all.

The night comes down, and mountain peaks
Are lost to view, the grassy slope;
Yet, at the darkest, memory speaks
The lovely prophecy of hope;
No peaks at midnight we discern,
But they return.

The rising sun again will gild
The summit that is lost to sight.
When darkness shuts around you, build—
Yes, keep on building in the night,
Still undiscouraged, since you know
These things are so.

The great unalterable things
Will never change. Though for a time
To other lands the bird takes wings,
Though summer seeks some other clime,
Though for a time injustice hides
The mountain sides—

Doubt not, fear not; work on, and wait;
As sure as dawn shall conquer dark
So love will triumph over hate,
And spring will bring again the lark.
Yes, if for truth you labor here,
You need not fear.

The night comes down, but labor on;
Despair not, yield not, neither change;
Tomorrow morn again the dawn
Will light the unalterable range
Of God's high hills with truth's great light.
'Tis but the night.