CIRCLES ON THE SAND by Samuel W. Duffield

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Tuesday, December 2, 1884

CIRCLES ON THE SAND.

By Samuel W. Duffield

NEAR to the margin of the sea, There clings a little plant, With trailing leaves to one poor root, And fashion hard and scant.

The wind that blows across the sand, Has tossed it here and there; But still it grows, and keeps its place, Though all the beach is bare.

And with its flying fingers still It marks upon the shore Curve upon curve of graceful lines, Repeated o’er and o’er.

So let thy life, though trampled down, And scant and wan with care, Trace on thy lot those lines of grace Which save it from despair.

For thus the circle grew before The eyes of ancient men; And thus the curves of ancient art Were drawn by nature’s pen.

And thus, if on the hardest task And narrowest of our lives, We carve such purpose, tides may sweep, But perfect thought survives.

—Rev. Samuel W. Duffield, in S. S. Times.