THE WASTED FOUNTAINS.
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THE WASTED FOUNTAINS.
“And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the pits and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty.”—Jeremiah xiv. 3.
When the fitful fever of the soul
Is awakened in thee first;
And thou goest like Judah’s children forth,
To slake thy burning thirst;—
Is awakened in thee first;
And thou goest like Judah’s children forth,
To slake thy burning thirst;—
And when dry and wasted, like the springs
Sought by that little band,
Before thee, in their emptiness,
Life’s broken cisterns stand;—
Sought by that little band,
Before thee, in their emptiness,
Life’s broken cisterns stand;—
When the ripened fruits that tempted,
Turn to ashes on the taste;
And thine early visions fade and pass,
Like the mirage of the waste;—
Turn to ashes on the taste;
And thine early visions fade and pass,
Like the mirage of the waste;—
