LIVINGSTONE THE BUILDER

With a will!

With a will!

With a will and surely!

Without fail,

Drive each nail,

Build we so, securely!

The Pioneer,— the Undaunted One,

Worn with long journeyings through the Great Dark Land,

Rests for a season from his mighty labours,

And seeks fresh vigour in a change of toil.

Labour is sweet,

When hands and hearts are willing,—

Who truly works

Is God's own law fulfilling.

With his own hands he helps to build a temple,

Here, in the wilds, a temple to his God,

Rough-hewn and roughly thatched, but still a house

Of prayer, a holy place, and consecrate

To Him whose noblest temples are not built

With hands, but in the opened hearts of men.

The Master worked,

With His own hands expressing

His sure belief

That therein lay God's blessing.

Thus, as he toils, with axe, and nail, and hammer,

His heart rejoices,— so the Master worked,

And by His lowly toil for ever stamped

True labour with its highest dignity.

With a will!

With a will!

With a will and surely!

Without fail,

Drive each nail,

Build we so, securely!