YOUTH AND AGE.
OH! youth,—oh! love,—oh! fancied dream,
Your airy garlands weave;
How bright the golden sunny beams
A human heart receives!
Oh! world, oh! power—ambition's goal!
Thou art as crumbling dust.
Too bright, too fair, thy visions fall,
For hearts e'er to distrust.
Oh! glory, wisdom, truth's fond dreams,
Thy pure unsullied ray,
Thy noble trust and deathless beams
Can never know decay!
It is the thought that burns within
Bright by its own ideal worth;
So richly pure, so grand undimmed,
Thus guarded by itself!
Oh! trust, oh! peace, the joy thou art,
To many but a name!
Your airy garlands weave;
How bright the golden sunny beams
A human heart receives!
Oh! world, oh! power—ambition's goal!
Thou art as crumbling dust.
Too bright, too fair, thy visions fall,
For hearts e'er to distrust.
Oh! glory, wisdom, truth's fond dreams,
Thy pure unsullied ray,
Thy noble trust and deathless beams
Can never know decay!
It is the thought that burns within
Bright by its own ideal worth;
So richly pure, so grand undimmed,
Thus guarded by itself!
Oh! trust, oh! peace, the joy thou art,
To many but a name!
