LOVE, JOY, AND PLEASURE.
AN ALLEGORY.
The night was calm, the sky serene,
The sea a mirror displayed;
On its bosom the twinkling stars were seen,
The moon-crested waves were dancing between,
And smiling through evening's shade.
The sea a mirror displayed;
On its bosom the twinkling stars were seen,
The moon-crested waves were dancing between,
And smiling through evening's shade.
On that placid sea Pleasure's bark was riding,
Love and Joy were its guides through the deep;
And their hearts beat high, while on fortune confiding,
They smiled at the forms that were gloomily striding
O'er the brow of the wave-washed steep.
Love and Joy were its guides through the deep;
And their hearts beat high, while on fortune confiding,
They smiled at the forms that were gloomily striding
O'er the brow of the wave-washed steep.
Those forms were Malice, and Scorn, and Hate,
And they flitted around so dark,
That they seemed like the gloomy sisters of Fate,
Intent on some dreary, some deadly debate,
To ruin the beautiful bark.
And they flitted around so dark,
That they seemed like the gloomy sisters of Fate,
Intent on some dreary, some deadly debate,
To ruin the beautiful bark.
But the eye of Joy was raised on high,
She gazed at the moon's pale lamp;
The tear of pleasure shone bright in her eye,
And she saw not the clouds that were passing by,
Death's messengers dark and damp.
She gazed at the moon's pale lamp;
The tear of pleasure shone bright in her eye,
And she saw not the clouds that were passing by,
Death's messengers dark and damp.
