Classic Poem

( " These lines written, the desk was closed, the pen laid aside — for ever. " — note by Charlotte Bronte)

I hoped that with the brave and strong
My portioned task might lie;
To toil amid the busy throng
With purpose pure and high;

But God has fixed another part,
And He has fixed it well:
I said so with my breaking heart
When first this trouble fell.

These weary hours will not be lost,
These days of misery,
These nights of darkness, tempest-tost,
Can I but turn to Thee;

With secret labor to sustain
In patience every blow,
To gather fortitude from pain,
And holiness from woe.

If Thou shouldst bring me back to life,
More humble I should be,
More wise, more strengthened for the strife,
More apt to lean on Thee.

Should death be standing at the gate,
Thus should I keep my vow:
But, Lord! whatever be my fate,
Oh, let me serve Thee now.