第8章
WHAT I LIVE FOR.
I live for those who love me, Whose hearts are kind and true, For the heaven that smiles above me, And awaits my spirit, too; For all human ties that bind me, For the task my God assigned me, For the bright hopes left behind me, And the good that I can do.I live to learn their story, Who suffered for my sake; To emulate their glory, And follow in their wake; Bards, patriots, martyrs, sages, The noble of all ages, Whose deeds crown History's pages, And Time's great volume make.
I live to hail that season, By gifted minds foretold, When man shall live by reason, And not alone by gold; When man to man united, And every wrong thing righted, The whole world shall be lighted As Eden was of old.
I live for those who love me, For those who know me true; For the heaven that smiles above me, And awaits my spirit, too; For the cause that needs assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that I can do.
DEFINITIONS:--Assigned, allotted, marked out.Emulate, to strive to equal or excel, to rival.Wake, the track left by a vessel in the water; hence, figuratively, in the trail of.Bard, a poet.Martyr, one who scarifices what is of great value to him for the sake of principle.Sage, a wise man.