Great tasks are but seldom given out,
Great deeds are but for the few,
Yet the little acts, not talked about,
May need a faith as true.
Some things are better for being small,
For a breath who wants a cyclone?
And the flower which would die in a water-fall
Grows bright with a drop alone.
The small is not always a little thing—
The stroke of a pen may move
A crown from off the brow of a king,
A government from its groove.
At times our measurement cannot be right,
For, when tried by the Master's test,
So little a gift as a widow's mite
Out-balances all the rest.
And whether a thing be great or small
As none of us may plan,
It is safe to do, what we do at all,
The very best that we can.