In the journey of life, as we travel along <br />To the mystical goal that is hidden from sight, <br />You may stumble at times into Roadways of Wrong, <br />Not seeing the sign-board that points to the right. <br />Through caverns of sorrow your feet may be led, <br />Where the noon of the day will like midnight appear. <br />But no matter whither you wander or tread, <br />Keep out of the Valley of Fear. <br /> <br /> <br />The Roadways of Wrong will wind out into light <br />If you sit in the silence and ask for a Guide; <br />In the caverns of sorrow your soul gains its sight <br />Of beautiful vistas, ascending and wide. <br />In by-paths of worry and trouble and strife <br />Full many a bloom grows bedewed by a tear, <br />But wretched and arid and void of all life <br />Is the desolate Valley of Fear. <br /> <br /> <br />The Valley of Fear is a maddening maze <br />Of paths that wind on without exit or end, <br />From nowhere to nowhere lead all of its ways, <br />And shadows with shadows in more shadows blend. <br />Each guide-post is lettered, 'This way to Despair,' <br />And the River of Death in the darkness flows near, <br />But there is a beautiful Roadway of Prayer <br />This side of the Valley of Fear. <br /> <br /> <br />This beautiful Roadway is narrow and steep, <br />And it runs up the side of the Mountain of Faith. <br />You may not perceive it at first if you weep, <br />But it rises high over the River of Death. <br />Though the Roadway is narrow and dark at the base, <br />It widens ascending, and ever grows clear, <br />Till it shines at the top with the Light of God's face, <br />Far, far from the Valley of Fear. <br /> <br /> <br />When close to that Valley your footsteps shall fare, <br />Turn, turn to the Roadway of Prayer- <br />The beautiful Roadway of Prayer.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-valley-of-fear/
