1 TOILING in the earthly vineyard
Many bands have found a place!
Some are nearing to the summit-
Some are at the mountain's base.
2 Progress is the stirring watchword
Cheers them upward to the height:
Canst thou pause and play the laggard,
With its glories full in sight?
3 Who shall tell what bound or barrier
To improvement Heaven designed?
Who shall dare to fix the limits,
To the onward march of mind?
4 Only He, who into being
Called th' unfathomed human soul,
He for whom the hymn of Progress
Through eternity shall roll!
1 O, WEARY not! O, weary not!
In labor well begun ;
The day is short, and waning fast;
Thy work will soon be done.
2 O, weary not! O, weary not!
Until the sun declines;
There's honor gained from noble toil,
And God the work assigns.
3 0, weary not! O, weary not!
Though hard be thine employ ;
Each sweat-drop forms within the heart
A fount of holy joy.
4 O, weary not! O, weary not!
For when thy task is o'er,
A home is thine of endless bliss,
Where toil is known no more.
1 LABOR fearless, labor faithful,
Labor while the day shall last ;
For the shadows of the evening
Soon the sky shall overcast;
Ere shall end thy day of labor,
Ere shall rest thy manhood's sun,
Strive with every power within thee,
That the appointed task be done.
2 Life is not the traceless shadow,
Nor the wave upon the beach,
Though our days are brief, yet lasting
Is the stamp we give to each:
Life is real, life is earnest,
Full of labor, full of thought;
Every hour and every moment
Is with living vigor fraught.
1 YE Workingmen of power,
Press onward to the fight;
Say, shall your spirits cower,
When pleading for the right?
Be firm and valiant-hearted,
Like warriors true and brave;
And strive with zeal undaunted
Humanity to save.
2 Yet nought of blood and slaughter
Shall stain the battle plain,
Where mother, wife and daughter,
Weep over many slain :
No! stainless is our banner!
Let peace our garland twine;
Our deeds with fadeless honor,
In future days shall shine.
1 WAKING every morn to duty,
Ere its hours shall pass away,
Let some act of love or mercy
Crown the labors of the day.
2 Lo! a better day is coming,
Brighter prospects ope before;
Spread your banner to the breezes-
Upward, onward, evermore!
3 Upward, onward, is our watchword,
Though the winds blow good or ill-
Though the sky be fair or stormy,
These shall be our watchwords still.
4 Upward, onward, in the battle
Waged for freedom and the right;
Never resting, never weary,
Till a vict'ry crowns the fight.
XVI. MOURNFUL AND CONSOLATORY.
1 DEATH! what is that which we call Death? To quit this house of clay;
To put aside this mortal coil
For immortality.
2 It is to leave this darksome world,
Where sin and sorrow reign;
To sever every earthly tie,
And join the heavenly train.
3 And tho' we part from friends most dearFrom those we fondly love,
We part but for a little time,
In hope to meet above.
4 United with that happy band,
Which now in heaven may be,
We'll praise the great Creator's name
Throughout eternity!
5 Then why our fears? why shrink from death, As though 't were dark and drear?
"Tis but the portal we must pass
To reach a higher sphere!
Our father's house, our heavenly home!
Where "many mansions" stand,
Prepared by hands divine, for all
Who seek the "better land."
2 When tossed upon the waves of life,
With fear on every side,
When fiercely howls the gathering storm,
And foams the angry tide,-
Beyond the storm, beyond the gloom,
Breaks forth the light of morn,
Bright beaming from our Father's house,
To cheer the soul forlorn.
3 In that pure home of tearless joy,
Earth's parted friends shall meet,
With smiles of love that never fade,
And blessedness complete;
There, there adieus are sounds unknown,
Death frowns not on that scene;
But life, and glorious beauty shine,
Untroubled and serene.
1 LIFE is a span, a fleeting hour,
How soon the vapor flies!
Man is a tender transient flower,
That in the blooming dies.
2 The once loved form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;
And nature weeps her comforts fled,
And withered all her joys.
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