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By John Greenleaf Whittier

Topics: classic

Dream not, O Soul, that easy is the task     Thus set before thee. If it proves at length,     As well it may, beyond thy natural strength,     Faint not, despair not. As a child may ask     A father, pray the Everlasting Good     For light and guidance midst the subtle snares     Of sin thick planted in life's thoroughfares,     For spiritual strength and moral hardihood;     Still listening, through the noise of time and sense,     To the still whisper of the Inward Word;     Bitter in blame, sweet in approval heard,     Itself its own confirming evidence     To health of soul a voice to cheer and please,     To guilt the wrath of the Eumenides

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"Dream not, O Soul, that easy is the task..."

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Author:John Greenleaf Whittier

"Dream not, O Soul, that easy is the task..." by John Greenleaf Whittier

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

John Greenleaf Whittier

About John Greenleaf Whittier

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) was an American Quaker poet and abolitionist whose poems—including "Snow-Bound" and "Barbara Frietchie"—celebrate New England life and moral courage. He was one of the Fireside Poets and a leading voice against slavery.

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"Gallery of sacred pictures manifold,     A minster..."

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