Follow the Light - Arthur Vine Hall

A dewdrop in shade of slenderest blade;

A foam-flake on verge of mountainous surge;

Delusive lake where deserts bake,

Or passing shade by an eagle made;

One golden ray on a wintry day;

A cloud's brief bliss 'neath the sunset-kiss.

Life's toil and strain but this to gain!

When lasting treasure no thought can measure

He may surely find, who with steadfast mind

Keeps trimmed and bright the Inward Light.

That Light may lead where feet shall bleed,

And voices drear assail the ear,

When horrid sights shall throng the nights,

And days be rife with fears and strife.

The treasure by thee will be found, maybe,

Amid the rattle and smoke of battle.

Or far it may lie 'neath a flickering sky

'Mid wastes ablaze in the scorching rays.

Perchance it peers where Winter rears

In the Arctic zone his eternal throne;

Or far, it may be, 'neath the purple sea

On a weltering steep of the sunless deep.

But how or where be not thy care:

That priceless treasure no thought can measure,

He shall surely find who with steadfast mind

Keeps trimmed and bright the Inward Light.

Through toil, through pain, in loss, in gain,

By day, by night, follow the Light.

---

Arthur Vine Hall (1862- 1956) South Africa

Source: Wikisource [from A Treasury of South African Poetry and Verse edited by Edward Heath Crouch]