"'Tis Never too Late to Mend."

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XVIII, Issue 1711, 24 July 1885, Page 3

"'Tis Never too Late to Mend."

A SONG FOB THE PEOPLE. The following powerfully written verses, by John Francis Waller, are perhaps not known to our readers As they breathe words of hope and encouragement to those who may sorely need them, and as they also possess the ring of true poetry, we te-publish them in our columns. Perhaps some of our lady friends will set them to music : Mau ! does some passion enslave you, Degrading your body and soul ? Some devil’s lure master and brave you, The syren, the dice, or the bowl ? Oh ! pause for a moment and hearken, And take the advice of a friend, Ere life’s day in death's night shall darken—’Tis Never too Late to Mend,

It may be that sin has enthralled you Through many a long misspent year, That conscience has pleadingly called you Till her voice you no longer can hear ; That day after day you are going The road that in ruin will end, Besotted and blended—not knowing ’Tis Never too Late to Mend. No brave man is he, but a coward, No freeman is he, but a slave, Who yields, by his passions o’erpowered, No blow strikes, his manhood to save. Come, rouse up your heart, if within it There’s one longing your fetters to rend 1 Mau ! fight Hie good fight and you’ll win it—"Tis Never too Late to Mend. With your body, your soul, and your spirit, Fight constant and instant’gainst sin : Long and sere through the fight, never fear it, Fight on to the end and you’ll win. Each lure you resist makes you stronger, Each struggle some fetter will rend, Till at last you’re a sin-slave no longer—’Tis Never too Late to Mend.