IF only—shadow did not follow sun,
If only—tempests lurked not in blue weather,
If only—life did not so swiftly run
And dreams need not be waked from altogether.
If only—hearts were not attuned to ache,
If only—joy and mirth turned not to grieving,
If only—we could seize and overtake
The rainbow Hope which lures us on deceiving!
If only—love were not poured out to waste,
If only—discord spared sweet music’s closes,
If only—blight and canker did not haste
To mar the lily’s white, the stainless roses!
If only—sentinels beside the ways,
Death, suffering, and sin stood not to daunt us,
If shadows from the vanished yesterdays
And fears for the to-morrows did not haunt us.
If only!—human grief unceasingly
Repeats in myriad tongues the wistful sighing.
Mighty and mournful is the mingled cry,
But never comes there any full replying,
Except when, o’er the tumult and the pain,
Above the upraised, questioning, tear-stained faces,
We catch at times a half heard, answering strain,
An antiphone from the high, heavenly places.
“If only, Lord,” the happy voices sing,
“If only—we have Thee, who faileth never,
Nor life, nor death, nor any other thing
Can hurt our joy forever and forever.
“If men could know how quickly pain is spent,
What compensations heaven has in keeping,
What home means after earth’s bleak banishment,
If only—they would smile instead of weeping.”
Sing louder, radiant host, wake our dull ears,
Till, though the path be hard and the day lonely,
We, too, shall answer through the mists of tears,
“If only—we have Thee, Lord, have Thee only.”