And, crowding, stop the cradle to admire A few short years-and then these sounds shall hail Then the huge ox shall yield the broad sir-loin ; The ale, now brewed, in floods of amber shine : And, basking in the chimney's ample blaze, 'Mid many a tale told of his boyish days, The nurse shall cry, of all her ills beguiled, ""Twas on these knees he sate so oft and smiled." And soon again shall music swell the breeze ; Soon, issuing forth, shall glitter through the trees Vestures of nuptial white; and hymns be sung, And violets scattered round; and old and young, In every cottage-porch with garlands green, Stand still to gaze, and, gazing, bless the scene ; While, her dark eyes declining, by his side Moves in her virgin-veil the gentle bride. And once, alas, nor in a distant hour, Another voice shall come from yonder tower; When in dim chambers long black weeds are seen, And weepings heard where only joy has been; When by his children borne, and from his door Slowly departing to return no more, He rests in holy earth with them that went before. And such is Human Life; so gliding on, It glimmers like a meteor, and is gone! } Yet is the tale, brief though it be, as strange, I Born in a trance, we wake, observe, inquire; And the green earth, the azure sky admire. Of Elfin-size--for ever as we run, We cast a longer shadow in the sun! And now a charm, and now a grace is won! We grow in stature, and in wisdom too! And, as new scenes, new objects rise to view, Think nothing done while aught remains to do. Yet, all forgot, how oft the eye-lids close, And from the slack hand drops the gathered rose ! How oft, as dead, on the warm turf we lie, While many an emmet comes with curious eye; And on her nest the watchful wren sits by ! Nor do we speak or move, or hear or see; So like what once we were, and once again shall be ! And say, how soon, where, blithe as innocent, The boy at sun-rise carolled as he went, An aged pilgrim on his staff shall lean, Tracing in vain the footsteps o'er the green; The man himself how altered, not the scene! Now journeying home with nothing but the name; Way-worn and spent, another and the same! K } No eye observes the growth or the decay. To-day we look as we did yesterday; Yet while the loveliest smiles, her locks grow grey! She'll see so soon amid another race, How would she shrink!-Returning from afar, And such is Human Life, the general theme. Who would not sleep and dream them o'er again? Our pathway leads but to a precipice; And all must follow, fearful as it is! 'Tis all in vain the inexorable Law! Nearer and nearer to the brink we draw. -" Still, could I shun the fatal gulf"-Ah, no, Verdure springs up; and fruits and flowers invite, And groves and fountains-all things that delight. "Oh, I would stop, and linger if I might!" } We fly; no resting for the foot we find; At length the brink appears-but one step more! Yet here high passions, high desires unfold, Now, seraph-winged, among the stars we soar; Wealth, Pleasure, Ease, all thought of self resigned, Death-nor look back, nor turn a footstep there, Do what he will, he cannot realize Go where he may, he cannot hope to find Look where he comes! Rejoicing in his birth, How great the Mystery! Let others sing The circling Year, the promise of the Spring, The Summer's glory, and the rich repose Of Autumn, and the Winter's silvery snows. Man through the changing scene let me pursue, Himself how wondrous in his changes too! |