From Volume 8 of The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, chapter -II, ‘Writings: Prose And Poems’
Written to a Western lady – disciple from New York, 6th January 1896.
What though thy bed be frozen earth,
Thy cloak the chilling blast;
What though no mate to cheer thy path,
Thy sky with gloom o’ercast;
What though if love itself doth fail,
Thy fragrance strewed in vain;
What though if bad o’er good prevail,
And vice o’er virtue reign:
Change not thy nature, gentle bloom,
Thou violet, sweet and pure,
But ever pour thy sweet perfume
Unasked, unstinted, sure!