🌾 Today’s Poem ~ Press On

Press On

Park Benjamin

Press on! Surmount the rocky steps,
    Climb boldly o’er the torrent’s arch;
  He fails alone who feebly creeps,
    He wins who dares the hero’s march.
  Be thou a hero! Let thy might
    Tramp on eternal snows its way,
  And through the ebon walls of night
    Hew down a passage unto day.

  Press on! If once and twice thy feet
    Slip back and stumble, harder try;
  From him who never dreads to meet
    Danger and death they’re sure to fly.
  To coward ranks the bullet speeds,
    While on their breasts who never quail,
  Gleams, guardian of chivalric deeds,
    Bright courage like a coat of mail.

  Press on! If Fortune play thee false
    To-day, to-morrow she’ll be true;
  Whom now she sinks she now exalts,
    Taking old gifts and granting new,
  The wisdom of the present hour
    Makes up the follies past and gone;
  To weakness strength succeeds, and power
    From frailty springs! Press on, press on!