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1809–1894

III.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The rest that earth denied is thine,— Ah, is it rest? we ask, Or, traced by knowledge more divine, Some larger, nobler task?

Had but those boundless fields of blue One darkened sphere like this; But what has heaven for thee to do In realms of perfect bliss?

No cloud to lift, no mind to clear, No rugged path to smooth, No struggling soul to help and cheer, No mortal grief to soothe!

Enough; is there a world of love, No more we ask to know; The hand will guide thy ways above That shaped thy task below.

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III. · Oliver Wendell Holmes · Poetry Cove