Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AT THE PARTING OF THE WAYS, by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AT THE PARTING OF THE WAYS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Go forth in thy turn,' said the lord of
Last Line: And the angels in heaven heard him, and lifted a paean of praise.
Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs.
Subject(s): Holidays; New Year


"Go forth in thy turn," said the Lord of the years to the year we greet to-
day—
"Go forth to succor my people, who are thronging the world's highway.

"Carry them health and comfort, carry them joy and light,
The grace of the eager dawning, the ease of the restful night.

"Take them the flying snowflake, and the hope of the hastening spring,
The green of the leaf unrolling, the gleam of the bluebird's wing.

"Give them the gladness of children, the strength of sinew and nerve,
The pluck of the man in battle, who may fall, but will never swerve.

"Send them the lilt of the singer, the sword that is swift to smite
In the headlong rush of the onset, when the wrong resists the right.

"Pour on them peace that crowneth hosts which have bravely striven,
Over them throw the mantle they wear who are God-forgiven.

"Shrive them of sin and of blunders; oh, make my people free!
Let this year among years be thought of as a time of jubilee,

"Throbbing with notes triumphant, waving with banners fair,
A year of the grace of the Highest, to vanquish human despair.

"For sorrow and sighing send them, O Year, the dance of mirth,
And banish the moan and the crying from the struggling, orphaned earth.

"Go forth in thy turn, O blithe New Year," said the Lord of the passing days;
And the angels in heaven heard Him, and lifted a paean of praise.





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