Public-domain source text

To Aurelio Saffi

by George MacDonald

From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/george-macdonald_poetry

To God and man be simply true; Do as thou hast been wont to do; Bring out thy treasures, old and new⁠— Mean all the same when said to you.
I love thee: thou art calm and strong; Firm in the right, mild to the wrong; Thy heart, in every raging throng, A chamber shut for prayer and song.
Defeat thou know’st not, canst not know, Although thy aims so lofty go They need as long to root and grow As infant hills to reach the snow.
Press on and prosper, holy friend! I, weak and ignorant, would lend A voice, thee, strong and wise, to send Prospering onward without end.

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This is a source transcription from Standard Ebooks, published in Past Poetry’s public-domain archive without line-by-line editorial notes. Public-domain source edition. Availability can vary by territory.

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