What I Live For

Unknown Author

I live for those who love me,  

  Whose hearts are kind and true,  

For the heaven that smiles above me,  

  And awaits my spirit, too;  

For all human ties that bind me,  

For the task my God assigned me,  

For the bright hopes left behind me,  

  And the good that I can do.  

I live to learn their story,  

  Who suffered for my sake;  

To emulate their glory,  

And follow in their wake;  

Bards, patriots, martyrs, sages,  

The noble of all ages,  

Whose deeds crown History’s pages,  

  And Time’s great volume make.  

I live to hail that season,  

  By gifted minds foretold,  

When man shall live by reason,  

  And not alone by gold;  

When man to man united,  

And every wrong thing righted,  

The whole world shall be lighted  

  As Eden was of old.  

I live for those who love me,  

  For those who know me true;  

For the heaven that smiles above me,  

  And awaits my spirit, too;  

For the cause that needs assistance,  

For the wrongs that need resistance,  

For the future in the distance,  

  And the good that I can do.