COMMERCE.
91
His eve of life in calm content shall glide
Like the still streamlet to the ocean tide:
No gloomy cloud hangs o'er his tranquil day;
No meteor lures him from his home astray;
For him there glows with glittering beam on high
Love's changeless star that leads him to the sky;
Still to the past he sometimes turns to trace
The mild expression of a mother's face,
And dreams, perchance, as oft in earlier years,
The low, sweet music of her voice he hears.
Like the still streamlet to the ocean tide:
No gloomy cloud hangs o'er his tranquil day;
No meteor lures him from his home astray;
For him there glows with glittering beam on high
Love's changeless star that leads him to the sky;
Still to the past he sometimes turns to trace
The mild expression of a mother's face,
And dreams, perchance, as oft in earlier years,
The low, sweet music of her voice he hears.
The mails are in; lo, what cadaverous crowds
Are rushing now, like spectres from their shrouds;
In vain the dinner waits, the wife looks sad,
The children whine, the sweet-toned cook goes mad;
They stir not, move not from the busy walk,
But all is solemn as an Indian talk.
Say, would you tempt that earnest group to dine,
With smoking venison and the raciest wine?
Sooner will rabid men to fountains take,
Than those same worthies their intent forsake.
Are rushing now, like spectres from their shrouds;
In vain the dinner waits, the wife looks sad,
The children whine, the sweet-toned cook goes mad;
They stir not, move not from the busy walk,
But all is solemn as an Indian talk.
Say, would you tempt that earnest group to dine,
With smoking venison and the raciest wine?
Sooner will rabid men to fountains take,
Than those same worthies their intent forsake.
