Classic Poem

If tender wishes be but empty air,
And loving thoughts be nought but idleness,
Oh then, what hope have I in my distress,
What else were left for me but blank despair?
For when the world is dull and dark and bare,
When loneliness and sorrow most oppress,
Ifeed my soul on sweet remembrances,
On many a tender thought and many a prayer.

As when from sunny seas a warm wind blows
On snowy wilderness and frozen height,
The roots that hidden sleep beneath the snows
Will cover all this waste with blossom bright,
E'en so the roots long sown, not sown in vain,
At thought of thee, dear friend, will bloom again.