Page:Bohemian legends and other poems.djvu/137

 Was it wrong to yearn for knowledge?
 * Knowledge that must pass away

Sometimes as I sit and ponder,
 * I can see another way,

To a glory without end, Never yet by mortal penned.

Sometimes as I sit and think
 * Of the days of long ago,

I can see the martyrs kneeling
 * To receive the fatal blow;

And I almost seem to hear Angels calling, “Have no fear.”

And I look around my chamber,
 * Stored with books and parchments rare;

And my heart is sick of knowledge,
 * And I wish that I was there,

Where earth's thirst is quenched for aye, And night turns to endless day.

Oh, my master, midst my learning
 * Seldom I have thought of Thee;

And I taught my students knowledge,
 * But I never spoke of Thee.

Now I dread to hear Thee say, Slothful servant, go away.”

Oh, my master, in Thy mercy
 * Spare me yet another year;

Let me speak in words undying
 * To the youths who come to hear.

Give me strength to warn and guide These few striplings to Thy side.

And if one of them should hearing,
 * Yearn for that high crown of life

Which I missed with all my learning,
 * Oh, God, fit him for the strife,

And then take me weary, old, Where Thy face I can behold.