THE DISTANT GOAL.
I builded me a palace fair,
Untouched of pain, remote from care,
And with my dreams I tarried there.
I tarried there for one brief day,
Then sorrow came and had its way—
My house of hope in ruins lay.
But, girded with a strength unknown
Before its joy was overthrown.
My soul arose and stood alone;
And gazing past life's sore defeat,
Past earth receding at its feet—
With all the beauty magic-sweet—
Beyond the reach of time and chance,
And wrecking tides of circumstance,
It saw as in a lightning glance
The distant goal. O not in vain
These earthly crucibles of pain,
In every loss may still be gain!
And though we know not how or whence,
Denial hath its recompense,
And love its hidden, sure defence.