Courage

Whether the way be dark or light 
My soul shall sing as I journey on,

    As sweetly sing in the deeps of night

         As it sang in the burst of the golden dawn.

    Nothing can crush me, or silence me long,

         Though the heart be bowed, yet the soul will rise,

    Higher and higher on wings of song,

         Till it swims like the lark in a sea of skies.

    Though youth may fade, and love grow cold,

         And friends prove false, and best hopes blight,

    Yet the sun will wade in waves of gold,

         And the stars in glory will shine at night.

    Though all earth's joys from my life are missed,

         And I of the whole world stand bereft,

    Yet dawns will be purple and amethyst,

         And I cannot be sad while the seas are left.

    For I am a part of the mighty whole;

         I belong to the system of life and death.

    I am under the law of a Great Central,

         And strong with the courage of love and faith.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox