When all the sky is very black

And all the earth is blue,

And all the fiends are on your track

And howling after you;

When courage falls and hope decays

And fair ambition dies,

And all your dreamland is ablaze

Beneath the ebon skies;

When you would fain renounce the goal,

Nor plod another mile,

Oh, straighten up your drooping soul,

And—just—hold on—a while!

Hold on a while! the darkest night

May bring the fairest day.

Hold on a while! the good, the right,

Will always find a way.

Hold on! for is Jehovah dead?

His love an empty song?

Hold on! have heaven's armies fled

Before the hosts of wrong?

Hold on! for still some strength remains,

Nor yield you till you must;

A newer life may flood your veins;

Born of a larger trust.

A newer life—hold on for that!

A lily from the mud!

The greening peak of Ararat

Emerging from the flood!

The clouds are shattered by the sun;

The earth is all aglow;

Away the howling devils run,

And back to hell they go!

Hold on for that! Do what you can,

Nor prove a craven elf;

For heaven never helped a man

Until he helped himself.

And when your fondest hopes are dead

And fate has ceased to smile.

'Tis then it pays to lift your head

And—just—hold on a-while.

-Amos Russel Wells-