Life's Onward Current.

190

ARENA.
JAS. L. ORR.

1. Forever onward is the march,
From thoughtless hoof to hand,
From savage to the seer and sage,
From saurian types to man;
From man to angel, limitless
As are the starry spheres,
Progression hath not halt nor bound
In God's eternal years.

2. From darkest cloud to lightning flash,
From nothing — life divine,
From gloom to glory is the law,
Th' unvarying design.
A world of good invites our eyes,
And charms the willing mind,
But he who only mis'ry finds,
Blasphemes the life divine.

3. No treach'rous gift was life to man,
With deadly hate concealed,
For love divine the method planned,
And all will be revealed
When o'er the clouds that hover here,
The risen soul surveys
The mansions of th' eternal spheres,
The land of endless days.