Saturday Poetry Corner: This Too Shall Pass Away

 

 

 

 "Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy."
(Psalm 126:5)

 

Image courtesy/Pinterest

 

When some great sorrow, like a mighty river,

Flows through your life with peace-destroying power,

And dearest things are swept from sight forever,

Say to your heart each trying hour,

"This, too, shall pass away."

 

Thank God that earthly things are not forever,

Thank God, eternal life is free from care;

That joy and peace, and gladness reigning ever,

And bliss supreme

Shall never, never pass away. 

 

When ceaseless toil has hushed your song of gladness,

And you have grown almost too tired to pray,

Let this truth banish from your heart its sadness,

And ease the burdens of each trying day:

"This, too, shall pass away." 

 

When fortune smiles, and full of mirth and pleasure,

The days are flitting by without a care,

Lest you should rest with only earthly treasure,

Let these few words their fullest import bear:

"This, too, shall pass away." 

When earnest labor brings you fame and glory,

And all earth's noblest ones upon you smile,

Remember that life's longest, grandest story

Fills but a moment in earth's little while:

"This, too, shall pass away."

 

Thank God that earthly things are not forever,

Thank God, eternal life is free from care;

That joy and peace, and gladness reigning ever,

And bliss supreme

Shall never, never pass away. 

 

 

"This, Too, Shall Pass Away" 
(1894)
Lanta Wilson Smith
(1856-1939)
American hymn writer