My Heart Will Keep the Courage of The Quest: “Life” by Henry Van Dyke

There is a small pocket park in a nearby town square, and once when walking around, I snapped the above picture of this quote.

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”   

I had no idea who Henry Van Dyke was so I turned to Google.  Turns out, Henry Van Dyke had quite the resume:

• Presbyterian Minister
• English Literature Professor at Princeton
• Ambassador to the Netherlands during WW1
• Prolific Writer of Short Stories, Poetry, and Essays
• Friend of Helen Keller and Woodrow Wilson
• Officiated at Mark Twain’s Funeral
• He wrote the hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”

That’s just hitting the highlights.  The man had an impressive sounding life. And in his pictures, he had an impressive moustache.

Helen Keller wrote in her 1929 autobiography Midstream: My Later Life, “Dr. van Dyke is the kind of a friend to have when one is up against a difficult problem. He will take trouble, days and nights of trouble, if it is for somebody else or for some cause he is interested in. ‘I’m not an optimist,’ says Dr. van Dyke, ‘there’s too much evil in the world and in me. Nor am I a pessimist; there is too much good in the world and in God. So I am just a meliorist, believing that He wills to make the world better, and trying to do my bit to help and wishing that it were more.'”

That’s some pretty high praise from someone known for her extensive advocacy work.

I’ve enjoyed reading some of Dr. Van Dyke’s poetry.  He has a poem entitled “Life” and I thought it would be worth a read considering that this man certainly seemed to live a fruitful and inspiring one.

Life

Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear
In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole
And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.

So let the way wind up the hill or down,
O’er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:
Still seeking what I sought when but a boy,
New friendship, high adventure, and a crown,
My heart will keep the courage of the quest,
And hope the road’s last turn will be the best.

That little park plaque turned out to be even more inspirational than at first glance.