"Say Not The Struggle Naught Availeth"

Here's an inspirational poem to signify the successful end of a long hard struggle.  Arthur Hugh Clough probably was talking about soldiers in this poem, but I think we all can learn from it that we must always fight the good fight and in the end, we will win the battle.  Congratulations to all our lovely grade 12 students on having reached this momentous day.  I wish you all the best in your future struggles.  There will be many of them, as we all know, but as the poet says, they have value and are not in vain.

Say not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth
And as things have been they remain.

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars,
It may be, in yon smoke concealed,
Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light,
In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright!