Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BITTER-SWEET by HENRY VAN DYKE

First Line: JUST TO GIVE UP, AND TRUST
Last Line: SURELY, NOW, THE BITTER IS SWEET.
Subject(s): FATE; DESTINY;

JUST to give up, and trust
All to a Fate unknown,
Plodding along life's road in the dust,
Bounded by walls of stone;
Never to have a heart at peace;
Never to see when care will cease;
Just to be still when sorrows fall --
This is the bitterest lesson of all.

Just to give up, and rest
All on a Love secure,
Out of a world that's hard at the best,
Looking to heaven as sure;
Ever to hope, through cloud and fear,
In darkest night, that the dawn is near;
Just to wait at the Master's feet --
Surely, now, the bitter is sweet.



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