Clinical Trials

But noble souls, through dust and heat,
Rise from disaster and defeat
The stronger.

Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of; they just turn up some of the ill weeds on to the surface.

Pray, pray, thou who also weepest,—
And the drops will slacken so;
Weep, weep—and the watch thou keepest,
With a quicker count will go.
Think,—the shadow on the dial
For the nature most undone,
Marks the passing of the trial,
Proves the presence of the sun.