I would not tarry if I could be gone

I would not tarry if I could be gone
  Adown the path where calls my eager mind.
  That fate which knows naught but to grip and bind
Holds me within its grasp, a helpless pawn,
And checks my steps when I would travel on.
  Forever shall my body lag behind,
  And in this Valley with the Moaning Wind
Must I abide with never a glimpse of dawn?

Though bends my body toward the yawning sod,
  I can endure the pain, the sorrows rife,
That hold me fast beneath their chastening rod,
  If from this turmoil and this endless strife,
Comes there a light to lead Man nearer God,
  And guide his footsteps toward the Larger Life.