Analysis of If This Be All

O God! if this indeed be all
    That Life can show to me;
If on my aching brow may fall
    No freshening dew from Thee, --
If with no brighter light than this
    The lamp of hope may glow,
And I may only dream of bliss,
    And wake to weary woe;

If friendship's solace must decay,
    When other joys are gone,
And love must keep so far away,
    While I go wandering on, --

Wandering and toiling without gain,
    The slave of others' will,
With constant care, and frequent pain,
    Despised, forgotten still;

Grieving to look on vice and sin,
    Yet powerless to quell
The silent current from within,
    The outward torrent's swell:

While all the good I would impart,
    The feelings I would share,
Are driven backward to my heart,
    And turned to wormwood, there;

If clouds must ever keep from sight
    The glories of the Sun,
And I must suffer Winter's blight,
    Ere Summer is begun;

If life must be so full of care,
    Then call me soon to Thee;
Or give me strength enough to bear
    My load of misery.