To Hope

GIVER and Gift!Immortal one whom all unite to praise:The young, who question not that clouds will lift,Joy treading upon joy through all their days,—The old, who cling the more tenaciouslyTo thy bright promises when most unblest,Living from hour to hour debtors to thee,Even for their dream of rest,—

Persuasive vision, wraithlike, pale!Man's trust adoring ever doth caressThy insubstantial loveliness;For even althoughNone may thy viewless habitation know,Fondly the heart still follows from afarThe soft, alluring radiance of thy star,—The light on earth that is the last to fail!

O wise enchantress whoRegret and disappointment dost redeem,—With flattering pledges newAnd brave forecast,Binding the future to atone the past,—Thine are the ministries whereby we live,Inheritors of the Immortal Dream;And though inconstant still thou seem,Baffling and fugitive,For these all thy betrayals we forgive.