| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 445. To Duty |
| | | By Thomas Wentworth Higginson |
| |
| |
| LIGHT of dim mornings; shield from heat and cold; | |
| Balm for all ailments; substitute for praise; | |
| Comrade of those who plod in lonely ways | |
| (Ways that grow lonelier as the years wax old); | |
| Tonic for fears; check to the over-bold; | 5 |
| Nurse, whose calm hand as strong restriction lays, | |
| Kind but resistless, on our wayward days; | |
| Mart, where high wisdom at vast price is sold; | |
| Gardener, whose touch bids the rose-petals fall, | |
| The thorns endure; surgeon, who human hearts | 10 |
| Searchest with probes, though the death-touch be given; | |
| Spell that knits friends, but yearning lovers parts; | |
| Tyrant relentless o’er our blisses all;— | |
| Oh, can it be, thine other name is Heaven? | |
| |
|
|
|
