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THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.
Launching again on the sea of Time.By him the goddess of Hope doth stand;And in her hand is an anchor clasped.Speaks she again in melodious tones,"Take thou this anchor, and it, O Youth!If when afar from these happy islesStorms and fierce tempests should round thee rage,Token of safety shall be to thee.Oh! but if thou by the isles of FearLosest this anchor, then woe to thee!Near these there lie, and with wrecks o'erstrewn,Rock-bound and dismal, the isles Despair.And if from Heaven there come no aid,Swiftly then on to those dismal islesShall thy bark sweep on that foaming surge,Till on those rocks it shall lie,—a wreck."Now in the bark is the anchor placed;Onward it sweeps o'er the dashing waves.
Now far away from those happy islesSee we the bark by the tempests driv'n;See we where Youth was its guide before,Manhood, with firm and with high resolve.Earnest his eye on the anchor rests,Dark grow the heavens; and blackened clouds,Bound by the lightnings with fiery chains,Frowningly gaze on the deep below,
