If This Be All

O God! if this indeed be all     That Life can show to me;     If on my aching brow may fall     No freshening dew from Thee,     If with no brighter light than this     The lamp of hope may glow,     And I may only dream of bliss,     And wake to weary woe;     If friendship's solace must decay,     When other joys are gone,     And love must keep so far away,     While I go wandering on,     Wandering and toiling without gain,     The slave of others' will,     With constant care, and frequent pain,     Despised, forgotten still;     Grieving to look on vice and sin,     Yet powerless to quell     The silent current from within,     The outward torrent's swell:     While all the good I would impart,     The feelings I would share,     Are driven backward to my heart,     And turned to wormwood, there;     If clouds must ever keep from sight     The glories of the Sun,     And I must suffer Winter's blight,     Ere Summer is begun;     If life must be so full of care,     Then call me soon to Thee;     Or give me strength enough to bear     My load of misery.