Let the thick curtain fall;I better know than allHow little I have gained,How vast the unattained. John Greenleaf Whittier More Quotes by John Greenleaf Whittier More Quotes From John Greenleaf Whittier We faintly hear, we dimly see, In differing phrase we pray; But dim or clear, we own in Him The life, the truth, the way. John Greenleaf Whittier life way jesus I dimly guess, from blessings known, of greater out of sight. John Greenleaf Whittier greater blessing sight God gives quietness at last. John Greenleaf Whittier lasts giving death With silence only as their benediction, God's angels come Where in the shadow of a great affliction, The soul sits dumb! John Greenleaf Whittier silence angel dumb Love hath never known a law beyond its own sweet will. John Greenleaf Whittier known law sweet A faint blush melting through the light of thy transparent cheek like a rose-leaf bathed in dew. John Greenleaf Whittier dew light rose The saddest thing of word or pen, To know the things that might have been. John Greenleaf Whittier saddest pens might Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace; East, west, north, and south let the long quarrel cease; Sing the song of great joy that the angels began, Sing the glory to God and of good-will to man! John Greenleaf Whittier christmas angel song The sun that brief December day Rose cheerless over hills of gray, And, darkly circled, gave at noon A sadder light than waning moon. John Greenleaf Whittier light moon rose We search the world for truth; we cull The good, the pure, the beautiful, From all old flower fields of the soul; And, weary seeker of the best, We come back laden from out quest, To find that all the sages said Is in the Book our mothers read. John Greenleaf Whittier flower mother beautiful What miracle of weird transforming Is this wild work of frost and light, This glimpse of glory infinite? John Greenleaf Whittier miracle light winter Freedom's soil hath only place For a free and fearless race! John Greenleaf Whittier fearless freedom race The garden rose may richly bloom In cultured soil and genial air, To cloud the light of Fashion's room Or droop in Beauty's midnight hair, In lonelier grace, to sun and dew The sweetbrier on the hillside shows Its single leaf and fainter hue, Untrained and wildly free, yet still a sister rose! John Greenleaf Whittier fashion garden clouds Press bravely onward! - not in vainYour generous trust in human kind;The good which bloodshed could not gainYour peaceful zeal shall find. John Greenleaf Whittier bloodshed peaceful kind The Fates are just: they give us but our own; Nemesis ripens what our hands have sown. John Greenleaf Whittier fate giving hands Nature speaks in symbols and in signs. John Greenleaf Whittier symbols speak Simple duty hath no place for fear. John Greenleaf Whittier duty simple What does the good ship bear so well? The cocoa-nut with its stony shell, And the milky sap of its inner cell. John Greenleaf Whittier cells nuts doe When earth as if on evil dreams Looks back upon her wars, And the white light of Christ outstreams From the red disc of Mars, His fame, who led the stormy van Of battle, well may cease; But never that which crowns the man Whose victory was peace. John Greenleaf Whittier dream men war Better heresy of doctrine than heresy of heart. John Greenleaf Whittier heresy doctrine heart