THE TWO ROADS.
There are only two roads of life, my friend,
Only two roads to take;
One, all of the way doth higher ascend,
And one, goeth down to the very end.
Yours is the choice to make.
Only two roads to take;
One, all of the way doth higher ascend,
And one, goeth down to the very end.
Yours is the choice to make.
You are standing now at the open gate
Beneath Youth's budding vine;
You must traverse one ere the dawn is late,
If you take the wrong, 'tis no freak of fate,
For the free choice is thine.
Beneath Youth's budding vine;
You must traverse one ere the dawn is late,
If you take the wrong, 'tis no freak of fate,
For the free choice is thine.
There are only two roads, oh! pause and think,
Hold rashness with bit and rein;
Lest low in the deep, stagnant mire you sink,
And only a trodden and broken link
Be left of life's jeweled chain.
Hold rashness with bit and rein;
Lest low in the deep, stagnant mire you sink,
And only a trodden and broken link
Be left of life's jeweled chain.
The road may look easier now, my friend,
That leadeth forever more down;
Gayer flowers, I know, by the wayside bend,
But a bitterness with their bloom will blend,
And they weave but a fading crown.
That leadeth forever more down;
Gayer flowers, I know, by the wayside bend,
But a bitterness with their bloom will blend,
And they weave but a fading crown.
The road may look difficult from afar,
That leadeth forevermore up;
But at every step there's a nearer star,
A laurel branch for each broken bar,
And a pearl in each bitter cup.
That leadeth forevermore up;
But at every step there's a nearer star,
A laurel branch for each broken bar,
And a pearl in each bitter cup.
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