Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Thomas WentworthHigginson

445 To Duty

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;

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

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?