Life's Lessons

I learn as the years roll onward
And leave the past behind
That much as I counted sorrow
But proves that God is kind;
That many a flower I had longed for
Had hidden a thorn of pain
And many a rugged bypath led to fields of ripened grain.
The clouds that cover the sunshine
They cannot banish the sun;
And the earth shines out the brighter
When the weary rain is done.
We must stand in the deepest shadow
To see the clearest light;
And often through wrong's own darkness
Comes the very strength of light.
The sweetest rest is at even, after a wearisome day,
When the heavy burden of labor has born from our hearts away;
And those who have never known sorrow
Cannot know the infinite peace that falls on the troubled spirit
When it sees at last release.