the angels of life.
89
IV.
"'Stead of the buoyant gush of southern fire,
Which should have burnt within thy veins like flame,
Trembling and dim and yearning to expire,
Life's waning, flickering pulses went and came."
Which should have burnt within thy veins like flame,
Trembling and dim and yearning to expire,
Life's waning, flickering pulses went and came."
V.
"I," said a voice more stern and cruel yet,—
"I brought to thee a cup, where lustrous shone
The pearl of love, but, ere thy lip was wet,
I smote thee back, and dashed the goblet down."
"I brought to thee a cup, where lustrous shone
The pearl of love, but, ere thy lip was wet,
I smote thee back, and dashed the goblet down."
VI.
"And know'st thou me?" one mocking Phantom said;
"Perished with me thy fair aspiring dreams;
The curse of failure by my influence shed
Baffled in mid career thy ardent schemes."
"Perished with me thy fair aspiring dreams;
The curse of failure by my influence shed
Baffled in mid career thy ardent schemes."
VII.
Health, love, ambition lost, I could but find
A crushed, and broken life's successless years,
A solitude of heart, a waste of mind,
And bitter end of all these bitter tears!
A crushed, and broken life's successless years,
A solitude of heart, a waste of mind,
And bitter end of all these bitter tears!
