James Challen Selfishness (1857)

FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER:

FOURTH SERIES.

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VOL. VII.] BETHANY, VA. OCTOBER, 1857. [NO. X.
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For the Millennial Harbinger.
S E L F I S H N E S S.
BY JAMES CHALLEN.

To be selfish, is to be sorrowful;
He who seeks his own and not another's
Finds not but dross and emptiness within;--
This is the desolation of a hungry heart
That feeds upon itself, and feeding dies!
That drinks the blood, filling the purple veins
Of life, and paints with its exhaustion.
It is the last deep sorrow of the heart,--
The flood that sweeps away all hope and joy;
It is the agony of helplessness, and woes,
When the last prop is broken, and the staff
On which we lean gives way upon the verge
Of dizzy heights,--o'er yawning oceans deep.
Love, never is so opulent, as when it gives
Its only mite to feed the destitute;
This is the heart's rich joy, its life and solace;
It then becomes all radiant with light,
In looking on the heart, it learns to bless;
It borrows from the object of its care
A joy, more fall and deep, than what it gives,
Like the last dying beams of the Sun's light
Gilding the cloud that pillows on its breast
It is the generous sap sending its virtues
Heavenward, to be rewarded by the
Flowers and fruits of Spring and Autumn.

[The Millennial Harbinger (October 1857): 595.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      James Challen's "Selfishness" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, Vol. 7, No. 10, October 1857. The electronic version of the poem has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1857), p. 595.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. I have let stand variations and inconsistencies in the author's (or editor's) use of italics, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in the poem.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 22 June 1998.
Updated 2 July 2003.

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