I live for those who love me, <br />Whose hearts are kind and true, <br />For heaven that smiles above me, <br />And waits my spirit, too; <br />For all the ties that bind me, <br />For all the tasks assigned me. <br />And bright hopes left behind me, <br />And good that I can do. <br /> <br />I live to learn their story <br />Who've suffered for my sake, <br />To emulate their glory, <br />And follow in their wake; <br />Bards, patriots, martyrs, sages, <br />The noble of all ages, <br />Whose deeds crown history's pages, <br />And Time's great volume make. <br /> <br />I live to hold communion <br />With all that is divine, <br />To feel there is a union <br />'Twixt Nature's heart and mine; <br />To profit by affliction, <br />Reap truths from fields of fiction, <br />And, wiser from conviction, <br />Fulfil each grand design. <br /> <br />I live to hail that season, <br />By gifted minds foretold, <br />When men shall rule by reason, <br />And not alone by gold; <br />When man to man united, <br />And every wrong thing righted, <br />The whole world shall be lighted <br />As Eden was of old. <br /> <br />I live for those who love me, <br />Whose hearts are kind and true, <br />For heaven that smiles above me, <br />And waits my spirit too; <br />For the cause that lacks assistance, <br />For the wrong that needs resistance, <br />For the future in the distance, <br />And the good that I can do.<br /><br />George Linnaeus Banks<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-i-live-for-3/
