 |
Life Poems
|
The dog that dropped his bone to snap at its reflection in the water went dinnerless. So do we often lose the substance--the joy--of our work by longing for tasks we think better fitted to our capabilities.
Work
Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
"This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
Of all who live, I am the one by whom
This work can best be done in the right way."
Then shall I see it not too great, nor small
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall
At eventide, to play and love and rest,
Because I know for me my work is best.
~Henry Van Dyke (1852 - 1933)
Henry van Dyke was an American author, educator, poet, playwright, and clergyman. He attended Princeton University and graduated in 1873, after which he became a professor of English literature at Princeton, serving between 1899 and 1923.
Being a pastor, Van Dyke wrote many stories and poems related to Christianity, religion in general, and Christmas. For example, his Christmas story (The Mansion) is about a mansion that speaks "not of money squandered but of wealth prudently applied," and is the companion story to The Other Wise Man. You can find several reprints of stories and Poems by Henry Van Dyke
Return From
Work back to Life Poems
