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"Press On."

"Press On." image
Parent Issue
Day
21
Month
April
Year
1848
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

BY PARK BENJAMIN. Press on! there's no such word as fail! Press nobly on! the goal is near - Ascend the mountain! breast the gale! Look upward, onward - never fear! Why should'st thou faint? Heaven smiles above, Though storms and vapor intervene; That sun shines on, whose name is Love, Serenely o'er Life's shadowed scene. Press on! surmount the rocky steeps, Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch; He fails alone who feebly creeps, He wins who dares the hero's march. Be thou a hero! let thy might Tramp on eternal snows its way And through the ebon wails of Night Hew down a passage unto day. Press on! if one and twice thy feet Slip back and stumble, harder try; From him who never dreads to meet Danger and death, they're sure to fly To coward ranks the bullet speeds While on their breasts, who never quail, Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds, Bright courage like a coat of mail. Press on! if Fortune play thee false To-day, to-morrow she'll be true; Whom now she sinks she now exalts, Taking old gifts and granting new. The wisdom of the present hour Make up for follies past and gone - To weakness strength succeeds. and power From frailty spring - press on! press on. Press on! what though upon the ground Thy love has been poured out like rain? That happiness is always found The sweetest, which is born of pain. Oft 'mid the forest's deep glooms, A bird sings from some blighted tree, And in the dearest desert blooms A neverdying rose for thee. Therefore press on! and read the goal And gain the prize and wear the crown; Faint not! for to the steadfast soul Come wealth and honor and renown. To thine own self be true, and keep Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil: Press on! and thou shalt surely reap A heavenly harvest for thy toil!