You are not poor if you love something, someone, humanity maybe,
and have faith that you will somewhere, sometime be satisfied,
though you know not how.
and have faith that you will somewhere, sometime be satisfied,
though you know not how.
You may even feel that your sorrow is but a school to teach you the virtues of sympathy and gentleness that will avail you hereafter,
though you know not where.
though you know not where.
I am not always on the highway that leads to this hilltop,
but I have seen the lighted road stretching on and on;
sometimes I have even fancied that I saw the windows of the castle all aglow.
but I have seen the lighted road stretching on and on;
sometimes I have even fancied that I saw the windows of the castle all aglow.
And I have hastened my steps to be in time for the feast,
and taken counsel of my courage lest I falter and fall on the way.
and taken counsel of my courage lest I falter and fall on the way.
May I keep this vision of the castle ever before my eyes,
and a belief in my heart that the journey is worth while,
and the castle and the glow in the windows not all illusion.
and a belief in my heart that the journey is worth while,
and the castle and the glow in the windows not all illusion.
This, and other poems by Max Ehrmann,are available in the book
The Desiderata of Happiness :
A Collection of Philosophical Poems
