Today, a poem, ‘Work Without Hope’, written in the 1800s, to remind us that hope cannot survive or exist without a reasonable purpose or motivation.
If it seems everyone around you has their act together and are busy moving forward in their careers while you feel you are treading water, take a minute as the week comes to an end to consider your dreams and be sure to honor them.
All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair—
The bees are stirring—birds are on the wing—
And Winter slumbering in the open air,
Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!
And I the while, the sole unbusy thing,
Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.
Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.
Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,
For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!
With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll:
And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?
Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve,
And Hope without an object cannot live.
Lines Composed 21st February 1825
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