Chapter VI

Golden light of life’s glad morning, Oh, so long, so long ago, I am looking, looking backward From the hills all white with snow. And it is so bleak and dreary, Oh, this long and toilsome way! And my feet are worn and weary Marching onward day by day. And the road is growing rougher, Desolate on every side, The mountains tower higher, higher, And the storm sweeps far and wide; And the skies are ever shrouded By the clouds, all stern and gray, And the light grows dim and dimmer As night-time closes down the day. And I scarce can trace the pathway That I tread with pain and moan, And I have no place of refuge, And my rest is but a stone; But I’m marching, ever marching Toward the far-off sunset shore, And I sometimes catch the flashing Of its rays that glimmer o’er The rugged, bleak, and lofty mountains That seem e’er to bar my way Toward the “city of the sunset” That I’m nearing day by day. Up and down the grim, dark mountains, Where the torrents leap and roar, I am struggling onward, onward, Oft with heart so faint and sore. Through the vales of desolation Where no living thing is seen, Over crags and yawning chasms, Where dread dangers lurk between. But I press on through all perils, While the days pass one by one; Soon I’ll reach the “City Golden,” Beyond the setting of the sun. The light that glows above the mountains, Grows brighter, nearer every hour; It sustains and cheers me onward, Renews my courage by its power. And I’m trusting for a meeting Where the lights immortal beam, With the friends that blest my childhood In the old cottage by the stream.