Give thy thoughts to the world, oh poet!
They are thine for the good of all--
The mighty who care to read them,
The lowly in peasant hall.
Send them forth, in the name of Heaven,
The gems from thy poet mind;
And let them be pure and holy,
And true, and loving, and kind.
Give thy thoughts to the world, oh poet!
It is not for thee to know
The good of aught thou hast written;
Thou only must onward go
In the strength of the One above thee;
So, like crumbs on the waters cast,
Shall thy silvery music echo,
And touch e'en the soul at last.
Give thy thoughts to the world, oh poet!
Stay not for the voice of praise;
'Twill surely retard thy progress,
And dazzle thy upward gaze.
This life is so frail and fleeting,
Thou wilt find it short indeed
To tell of thy glorious visions--
Time rides on so swift a steed.
Give thy thoughts to the world, oh, poet,
However humble they be;
Thought is parent to thought, and who knows
What others may garner from thee.
There's many a grand conception
That cometh of lowly birth;
Mind ever from mind is building
The new from the old on earth.
Give thy thoughts to the world, oh, poet--
A song for the wild wood glen,
A hymn for the grand old ocean,
A sigh for the woes of men,
A soothing word to the weary,
Sweet warblings too for the child,
A smile for all human happiness,
A sob for the heart's grief wild.
Give thy thoughts to the world, oh, poet;
By thine own life's joys and tears
Thou wilt gain fresh inspiration,
And light for the coming years.
Thy warbles must echo somewhere
Abroad in the wilderness,
And surely amongst the many
A few may listen, and bless.
First published in The South Australian Advertiser, 30 March 1869
