"All the seasons must come and go Over the hill with footsteps slow,Autumn and winter, summer and spring; Oh, for a bridge of gold to fling "Ten years may be long," he said, A man must labor, a man must choose, And he must be strong to wait! The years may be long, but who would wear The crown of honor, must do and dare! No time has he to toy with fate Who would climb to manhood's high estate!" JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. Each gallant arm that strikes below Flag of the seas! on ocean wave And frighted waves rush wildly back And smile to see thy splendors fly Flag of the free heart's hope and home, By angel hands to valor given; Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hues were born in heaven. For ever float that standard sheet! Where breathes the foe but falls before us, With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us? I KNOW that all beneath the moon decays; And what by mortals in this world is brought, WHAT WE TOIL FOR. Or mortal glory O soon darkened ray! O In time's great periods shall return | O to nought; That fairest states have fatal nights and days. I know that all the Muses' heavenly lays, With toil of sprite which are so dearly bought, As idle sounds, of few or none are sought; That there is nothing lighter than vain praise. I know frail beauty's like the purple flower To which one morn oft birth and death affords; That love a jarring is of mind's accords, Where sense and will bring under reason's power: winged joys of man, more swift than wind! fond desires, which in our fancies stray! O traitorous hopes, which do our judgments blind! Lo, in a flash that light is gone away Which dazzle did each eye, delight each mind, And, with that sun from whence it came combined, Now makes more radiant Heaven's eternal day. Let Beauty now bedew her cheeks with tears; Let widowed Music only roar and groan; Poor Virtue, get thee wings and mount the spheres, For dwelling-place on earth for thee is none! Death hath thy temple razed, Love's empire foiled, Know what I list, this all cannot me The world of honor, worth, and sweetness spoiled. |