Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum

By Martha M. Simpson

Born 5/3/1869

O steep and rugged Life, whose harsh ascent
         Slopes blindly upward through the bitter night!
         They say that on thy summit, high in light,
Sweet rest awaits the climber, travel-spent;
But I, alas, with dusty garments rent,
         With fainting heart and failing limbs and sight,
         Can see no glimmer of the shining height,
And vainly list, with body forward bent,
To catch athwart the gloom one wandering note
         Of those glad anthems which (they say) are sung
         When one emerges from the mists below:
But though, O Life, thy summit be remote
         And all thy stony path with darkness hung,
         Yet ever upward through the night I go.

DayPoems Poem No. 957
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/957.html">Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum by Martha M. Simpson</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

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