I Will Not Despair.

I will not despair while thou rulest the storm,         Though the red lightning stream o'er the cloud's sable-breast,     For I catch through the darkness bright gleams of thy form,         And I know 'tis thy voice lulls the tempest to rest -                     The wild tempest to rest:     Nor yet, though the shadows of deepening night,         Hang over my path like the pall of despair;     For one star through the gloom sends its hallowed light,         And I know 'tis thy love smiling tenderly there,                      - Ah! tenderly there.     I will not despair, though the fountain that burst         For me in life's desert be wasted and dry;     For thy love was the fountain that cheered me at first,         And again to its life-giving waters I fly -                     O Holiest, fly!     No; I will not despair while thy hand points me on,         Though flowerless and thorny the path where I roam.     For a calm sunlight rests on the far hills beyond,         And I know 'tis the radiance that streams from my home,                      - Home, beautiful home!