Explore "Work (Sonnets)" by Henry Van Dyke on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Let me but do my work from day to day, / In field or forest, at the desk or loom, / In roaring market-place or tranquil room; / Let me but find it in my heart to say, / When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, / "This is my work; my blessing, not my doom; / "Of all who live, I am the one by whom / "This work can best be done in the right way."
Then shall I see it not too great, nor small, / To suit my spirit and to prove my powers; / Then shall I cheerful greet the labouring hours, / And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall / At eventide, to play and love and rest, / Because I know for me my work is best.
April, 1902.