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ONLY A STEP

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 15, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 37.

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ONLY A STEP.

By C. M. Snow

It isn’t so far as we sometimes think From the mount of hope to adversity’s brink, From the cooling draught to the poisonous drink; It isn’t so far, I say—only a step.
It isn’t so far, my barefoot boy, From your corn-stalk fiddle and tinseled toy To the royal games which a king employ; Not so far as it seems—it’s only a step.
It isn’t so far from wealth to rags, From the one who begs to the one who brags Of his hoarded gold, and who never lags In his quest of wealth—only a step.
It isn’t so far from the hate you feel To the plunging blow of the murderous steel, When will runs riot and senses reel; It isn’t so far, I say—only a step.
It isn’t so far from the pleasing smile And winning words of a flatterer’s wile To the aching heart; when his polished guile Has won and forsaken—it’s only a step.
It isn’t so far, my lady fair, From your motherhood joy and queenly air To the blighted hope and wild despair Of the sister you shun—it’s only a step.
And you who have tasted the bittersome draught Of the dregs of sin, while the enemy laughed, You know it’s not far from the first glass quaffed To the ruin that waits for you—only a step.
It isn’t so far from the desert you view, Where your brambles of sorrow luxuriant grew, To the great Heart of love that is yearning for you; Not so far as it seems—it’s only a step.
It isn’t so far from the depths of sin, And the meshes that tangled and guided you in, To the arm of God’s love that will help you to win All the pleasures of heaven—it’s only a step.
C. M. Snow.