My School
by Roswell Derby
Weary watching, earnest toil!
My days are spent with thee;
Weary brain returns the spoil,
Yet blessings come to me:
As in those in'cent forms, I see
That love, so pure, that dwells with thee.
Earnest hopes for thee, doth glow,
Watchful care is given;
That pure seeds, their hearts may sow,
Their flow'rs to bloom in Heav'n;
For, on this cold and fleeting earth,
Our works should be of Heav'nly birth.
Watchful day and dreamy night,
Calls care I give to thee,
Pleasure's flow'r they seem to blight,
But thought they give to me;
For as their minds, to me, are giv'n,
I strive to teach them earth and Heav'n.
Roswell Derby (1845-1927) was a lawyer from Ohio, but he had a brief stint as a schoolteacher before that. There doesn't seem much more to say about him, but his Poems of Friendship, Love, and Hope shows him to be a quite competent minor poet.
