GOING BLIND! 
I’ve had some trouble with my eyes fof pretty near a year, 
A dimness and a haziness—a sort of grayish bleaf. 
My eyeballs seem like coals of Are whene'r the light is strong 
And then again, they’re cold as Ice—I knew that they were wrong, 
So wife and I we rode to town-she wanted me to go 
And let the big eye doctor there look Into them, you know. 
And now I’m back; I’ve got a chance to straighten out my mind, 
That doctor drove my wits away with this You're going blind ! ” 
I don’t remember all he said—'twas something 'bout decay 
Of optic nerves or som-thing else, the light turned dim and gray ; 
A new and dreadful terror flashed like lightning on my sight; 
I seemed to reach and vainly strive to hold the fading light. 
I think I must have staggered then—my heart grew cold with fear— 
Said he, "There’s no help for you now—the night Is almost here ! ” 
The night of hideous darkness walled 
In by living black, 
i in ii ' uni 
With eyes that ache and strain in vain 
for just a tiny crack, 
Through which the blessed light of day 
may touch the weary brain, 
Oh! better live in daylight fair, though /wWjjjjf vyWtBnpS 
racked by endless pain. ^ 
I’ve heard folks say they’d rather lose 
their eyesight than their ears; jj mra rn 
Far better shadow than the noise the I 
stricken deaf man hears; l .hi 
Far better hear the human voice in dark- \ 
ness than to see. 
With straining, aching ears the lips of 
friends move silently 
But I love sunshine best of all—how can 
I give my sight 
And sit for years with head bowed down 
in one long endless night ? 
I caught one look at w Ife’s white face 
before we moved away, 
Below, her mouth was smiling, but 
above, tears forced their way. 
"Come John,” she whispered quietly, 
" be brave and never mind!” 
Ah ! but that verdict chilled my heart! 
•• No hope! You’re going blind! ” 
We’ve worked and hrped and trusted, we have conquered poverty, 
And now, when life seems best of all, the light goes out for me. 
What shall I do when darkness comes ? what comfort can it tell 
To lives like mine thrust backward from the work they love so well ? 
I have so much to plan and do; life is so short at best— 
I’d rather work and toil for years than take the blind man's rest. 
I shut my eyes and wonder what these blind men think ar.d do, 
How seems this mass of blackness that they try to struggle through ; 
This thick, black, dayless shadow—what a terror it must hold, 
What ghoulish figures dance there, and what frightful tales are told! 
The past must march before them, and the folks they used to know— 
Old scenes and hopes and mem rles before them come and go; 
And voices from the deep block depths come whispering in their ears, 
Who knows wbat secret messages the broo' ing blind man hears ? 
Unmindful of the former days when I was young and strong; 
A useless burden is a man when blindness creeps along. 
And maybe care’s sharp hooks of steel will sink into my mind— 
Oh ! bitter, hopeless Is the fate of one who’s “going blind.” 
And yet, thc r e must be light somewhere, I will not bow my head 
And throw my faith and courage out when these good eyes are dead. 
Some right, perhaps invisible beneath each wrong must rest, 
God never yet ignored the work of one who did his best. 
And while tills blindness might be used as punishment for sin— 
For guilty hearts—where justice turns the nameless horrors in. 
I cannot think that sightless eyes bring naught but punishment, 
I must believe that seme reward Into the dark Is sent. 
What terrors can the blind man know save those that conscience brings? 
Tho memory of evil done is all the curse that stings. 
And may not happy dreams come back 
__ to cheer the blind man’s night ? 
--- And long-forgotten hopes and joys give 
^ ^ taUK ^ 1 my ones to ^ ear mo ' 
P'tlfev /OjaM ; \ My coming ; if my words had stung their 
It hearts and left love dead ; 
I ^wife’s heart held a gash or two that 
l acts of mine had made, 
| ii The sightless eyes would drive me mad, 
l for I should be afraid 
?Of meeting hopes and lives and souls 
l/flv Mpffl Vpk; J that I had crippled here 
HHg rW flllTnPr With careless wo'as-they’d hobble past 
■ anfl fll1 my soul w,t h fear. 
j||g||S Aml ' OVe and ha PP lness a, ‘d hope would 
If I had never tried to win my little cbll- 
^ dren’s trust. 
But I shall pass into the gloom held up 
'•% by loving hands, 
_ X With that great patience and content 
J -, _ /—he only understands. 
We didn't talk much coming home—that 
doctor struck me dumb; 'X\ 
My head was dizzy and I seemed all sort 
of cold and numb. - 
I felt a mighty helplessness that seemed ^ - 
to crush me down ; — 
I hardly knew which way to turn, and . _ -« 
all the way from town, ~ , — 
Wife sat and watched me tenderly—her 
eyes just swimming o’er. 
She didn’t speak—that’s not her wav— 
she knew my heart was sore, 
But gently on my arm her hand went L _._ 
patting light as f now, 
I un erstood-she couldn’t talk-she * I shut I 
took that way to show 
That she was true. The past came back and flooded o’er my mind. 
No one can tell what sadness comes to one who’s “going blind ! ” 
“ I shut my eyes and wonder what these blind men think and do!” Fig. 241 
No future for the blind man’s life, death’s key alone turns back 
The lock that lets the brightness shine along his life’s hard track. 
And I shall sit there helpless just as I have reached my prime, 
Alone with bygone deeds and thoughts to pass away the time, 
And all my strength and hopeful plans will waste themselves away, 
Who feels that he has lived so well that 
true hearts trust in him, 
And only double In their love when his 
good eyes grow dim. 
Oh, great is faith and strong is hope; 
the record of a life 
With some unselfish purpose Is an 
anchor in the strife, 
That seems to overwhelm me here—I’ve 
tried to do my best. 
And that alone upholds me now before 
this fearful test. 
XxX ~ " How empty now seems wealth and fame 
=£ 5 *^===—'-' —what’s knowledge when the sight 
Dies out? Love is the only thing that 
_ X — brings the blind man light. 
_ ... - - — — - *=• * Love, faith and hope! We know not how 
—Xi?" ~ we build them through the years. 
How weak they are : a smile, a word, an 
1 eye that brims with tears, 
_ _ _) But strongest force God ever made- 
love holds us true to him 
i»» pic 241 
‘ When other anchors fail, and life’s best 
hopes and dreams grow dim. 
And wife and boys beside me here will point and plan the way. 
And love will lead me onward with fresh courage day by day. 
And though years pull their shoulders down and whiten out their hair, 
Still in the blind man’s mind they’ll be forever young and fair. 
And we shall know each other as we never did before, 
But now I sit and think It out-here where the summer breeze 
Comes humming up the valley’s side, and singing through the trees. 
The sun had dimmed my eyes again, yet through their blurring haze, 
Acrois the valley on the hill I see the cattle graze. 
The years have brought us good and left their mark upon the place ; 
The farm Is better than it was - there’s beauty on its face. 
The sun sinks slowly to the West, beside the orchard wall, 
The shadows gather and the voice of evening seems to call. 
And somehow, like a blessed thing, it cheers my heavy heart, 
And gives me faith to study out my new and dismal part. 
Ah! Life is full of happiness to one who loves his farm, 
We’ve kept our love-flre burning and it’s thawed the frost of harm. 
As sitting hopeless in the dark I feel day follow day. 
Or, waking in the nighttime from a happy dream of sight, 
I shrink in desperation as my eyeballs feel their blight— 
’Till old age comes and pins me like a cripple to my chair, 
And plows my face with wrinkles broad and bleaches out my hair. 
And friends of old-time days will go, forgetful of me here, 
Their lives are full of busy things, they have no time to cheer 
A blinded wreck; the world is wide—they’re free to go and come. 
They’ll tire of listening to the ta'k of one who’s tied at home. 
And is love strong enough to stand the constant watch and care 
That blind men need ? Will wife and boys regret their toilsome share 
And blame me for my sightless eyes ? Far better death I say 
Than life with careless, listless ones who wish me far away, 
And time will test our troubles till they dwindle more and more. 
And sitting thero In perfect trust, perhaps my eyes will gain, 
A glimpse of that strange “Inward light,” the preacher made so plain. 
There may be light for sightless eyes, it may be I shall find 
That scenes we cannot dream of reach the dead eyes of the blind. 
So I’ll not fret—I’ll bide my time in patience, for I know 
That love and pity, pure and true, with me to blindness go, 
Though darkness chain me to my place, and steal away my eyes, 
It cannot dim a useful life or slacken friendship’s ties. 
If I had only money now with which to pay mv way, 
I’d shrink in horror from the test and curse my blinding day. 
But cheered by happy memories. I’ll meet my fate resigned. 
Then let It come—I fear no more the thought of “ goiDgiblind.” 
