Some years ago, when I was young,
And filled with hope and pride and folly,
Ere sorrow came, and o'er me flung
Its gloomy pall of melancholy,
I had a friend of just my years,
I loved him with deep devotion;
His griefs and joys, his hopes and…
The world, dear John, as the folks told us,
Is a world of trouble and care;
Many a cloud of grief will enfold us,
And the sunshine of grief is but rare.
But there's something yet to be bright and blest in,
No matter how humble the lot;
The…
Crouching on the marble steps
That led into a house of prayer.
Sat a girl with face half hidden
'Neath a veil of tangled hair,
Looking like a fallen angel,
Come to find a shelter there.
Loudly blew the winds around her,
Coldly fell the…
Little white hands,
Pale, pleading face,
Beseeching, imploring—
O! piteous case!
Hear the harsh answer—
See the rough blow;
Mad, like a torrent,
The bitter tears flow.
A demon the man,
An angel the wife;
Ill-mated, ill-fated—
Death wedded…
To music's sweet measure in couples they whirl,Tattooing the floor as they circle and curl;The toes of the ladies go tippity-tip,The heels of the gentlemen rippity-rip,All making a Babel of noise by their jumps,Like hoppity, skippity, thumpity…
Nothing is our own, we hold our pleasures
Just a little while 'ere they are fled;
One by one life robs us of our treasures;
Nothing is our own except our dead.
They are ours, and hold in faithful keeping,
Safe forever, all they took away;
Cruel…
No seas again shall sever,
No desert intervene;
No deep and rolling river
Shall roll its tide between.
No bleak cliffs upward tow'ring
Shall bound our eager sight;
No tempest darkly lowering,
Shall warp us in its night.
Love, and unsevered…
Mildly judge ye of each other—
Be to condemnation slow;
The very best have got their failings,
Something good the worst can show.
The brilliant sun hath spots of darkness
On his radiant front, they say,
And the clock that never goeth
Speaks…
One by one the sands are flowing,
One by one the moments fall;
Some are coming, some are going—
Do not strive to grasp them all.
One by one thy duties wait thee—
Let thy whole strength go to each;
Let no future dreams elate thee—
Learn thou…
Why do the great, the good, the just,Expire in pain, and sleep in dust,
And virtue sink in gloom?
Why does the sage, the patriot why,Like the vile wretch, in anguish die,
And find as dark a tomb?
And why most merit fall at last,Before the…
