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THE SEVEN CHORDS OF THE LYRE.
NO. I.—ASPIRATION.
Oh, would I were yon glorious arch on high—
Itself so fair, its promise fairer still!
God's gracious message smiling in the sky,
With love, and hope, and faith all hearts to fill;
And as, where it meets earth, rich jewels gleam,
Clear sapphires, kingly rubies, emeralds rare,
Would I in death Fame's sparkling guerdon wear,
Fulfilled youth's aspiration and its dream.
As fair my hope as yonder prismed hues—
As brightly, may its aim accomplished shine!
Courage and truth and constancy divine,
The gems in which those lucid rays shall fuse,
To noble promise, blest fruition given—
My life a bow which spans both earth and heaven.
Itself so fair, its promise fairer still!
God's gracious message smiling in the sky,
With love, and hope, and faith all hearts to fill;
And as, where it meets earth, rich jewels gleam,
Clear sapphires, kingly rubies, emeralds rare,
Would I in death Fame's sparkling guerdon wear,
Fulfilled youth's aspiration and its dream.
As fair my hope as yonder prismed hues—
As brightly, may its aim accomplished shine!
Courage and truth and constancy divine,
The gems in which those lucid rays shall fuse,
To noble promise, blest fruition given—
My life a bow which spans both earth and heaven.
