Adelaide Anne Procter Quotes

No star is ever lost we once have seen, We always may be what we might have been Since Good, though only thought, Has life and breath - God's life - can always be redeemed from death. And evil in its nature is decay, And any hour may blot it all away. The hope that lost in some far distance seems, May be the truer life, and this the dream.

Have we not all, amid life's petty strife, Some pure ideal of a noble life That once seemed possible? Did we not hear The flutter of its wings, and feel it near, And just within our reach? It was. And yet We lost it in this daily jar and fret, And now live idle in a vague regret. But still our place is kept, and it will wait, Ready for us to fill it, soon or late: No star is ever lost we once have seen, We always may be what we might have been. Since Good, though only thought, has life and breath, God's life--can always be redeemed from death; And evil, in its nature, is decay, And any hour can blot it all away; The hopes that lost in some far distance seem, May be the truer life, and this the dream.

Our Beasts and our Thieves and our Chattels Have weight for good or for ill; But the Poor are only His image, His presence, His word, His will; - And so Lazarus lies at our doorstep And Dives neglects him still.