TO play through life a perfect part,
Unnoticed and unknown ;
To seek no rest in any heart
Save only God's alone ;
In little things to own no will,
To have no share in great,
To find the labor ready still,
And for the crown to wait ;

Upon the brow to bear no trace
Of more than common care ;
To write no secret in the face
For men to read it there ;
The daily cross to clasp and bless
With such familiar zeal
As hides from all that not the less
Its daily weight you feel ;

In toils that praise will never pay
To see your life go past ;
To meet in every coming day
Twin sister of the last ;
To hear of high, heroic things,
And yield them reverence due,
But feel life's daily offerings
Are far more fit for you ;

To woo no secret, soft disguise,
To which self-love is prone ;
Unnoticed by all other eyes,
Unworthy in your own ;
To yield with such a happy art
That no one thinks you care,
Yet say to your poor bleeding heart,
How little you can bear ; -

Oh! 'tis a pathway rough to choose,
A struggle hard to share,
For human pride would still refuse
The nameless trials there ;
But since we know the gate is low
That leads to heavenly bliss,
What higher grace could God bestow
Than such a life as this !