If I Were a Sunbeam

"If I were a sunbeam,

I know what I'd do:

I would seek white lilies

Rainy woodlands through;

I would steal among them,

Softest light I'd shed,

Until every lily

Raised its drooping head.

"If I were a sunbeam,

I know where I'd go:

Into lowliest hovels

Dark with want and woe;

Till sad hearts looked upward,

I would shine and shine;

Then they'd think of heaven,

Their sweet home and mine."

Art thou not a sunbeam,

Child whose life is glad

With an inner radiance

Sunshine never had?

Oh, as God has blessed thee,

Scatter rays divine!

For there is no sunbeam

But must die, or shine.