Learn

Learn, learn, learn,—

Our beautiful world is not a field for sheep;

Not just a place wherein to laugh and weep,

To eat and drink, to dance and sigh and sleep,

And then to moulder into senseless dust.

Learn, learn, learn,—

Look up and learn—you cannot look too high!

Not for the earthly wealth which brains can buy,

Not for the sake of gold and luxury—

Treasures corrupted by the moth and rust.

Learn, learn, learn,—

As one in whom the Lord has breathed His breath,

And aye redeemèd from the power of death—

Not as the dumb brute-beast that perisheth,

Not as a soulless, thoughtless, thankless clod.

Learn, learn, learn,—

With love and awe and patience—not in haste;

Drink deeply,—do not pass by with a taste;

O make your land a garden, not a waste!—

Your mind bright, to reflect the face of God.

Learn, learn, learn,—

The mystic beauty and the truth of life;

Search out the treasures whereof earth is rife,

Search on all sides, with pain and prayer and strife;

Search even into darkness. Do not fear.

Learn, learn, learn,—

With a true, steadfast heart, lay up your hoard;

God will sort out the treasures you have stored,

And set them in His bright light, afterward.

He will make all your difficulties clear.

Learn, learn, learn,—

Death is no breaking at a certain place;

We only pause there for a little space.

And then—you would not shame Him to His face?—

You, in His Image and own Likeness made!

Learn, learn, learn,—

Walk with wide-open eyes and reverent heart.

Worship as God the beautiful in art.

Though you see now but dimly, and in part,

All shall be clear in time. Be not afraid.

Ada Cambridge