Lines To My Father
The many sow, but only the chosen reap;
Happy the wretched host if Day be brief,
That with the cool oblivion of sleep A dawnless Night may soothe the smart of grief.
If from the soil our sweat enriches sprout One meagre blossom for our hands to cull,
Accustomed indigence provokes a shout Of praise that life becomes so bountiful.
Now ushered regally into your own,
Look where you will, as far as eye can see,
Your little seeds are to a fullness grown,
And golden fruit is ripe on every tree.
Yours is no fairy gift, no heritage Without travail, to which weak wills aspire;
This is a merited and grief-earned wage From One Who holds His servants worth their hire.
So has the shyest of your dreams come true,
Built not of sand, but of the solid rock,
Impregnable to all that may accrue Of elemental rage: storm, stress, and shock.
Countee Cullen
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