TIME, DEATH, AND ETERNITY.
O Earth! when the dark realms of chaos and nightAt first knew the gleams of that mystical light,Creation's bright herald its dawn to proclaim,When first by the power of Omnipotence cameThe worlds in their grandeur primeval and brightTo journey through space on their pathways of light,When first the Spheres chanted their music sublime,Then earth, sun, and stars hailed the birthday of Time.The dim throng of ages encircles me now;The seal of the ancient is set on my brow;Yet swiftly I move on my lone, silent way,'Mid glories of night and the splendors of day,As when the Almighty his mandate first spoke,And thus into being the universe woke. Wondrous, O Earth! are the changes I've wrought:Powers and Dominions to ruins I've brought;Grandeur and glory have sunk 'neath my sway;Beauty I've folded in robes of decay;By the sad changes that oft I have wrought,Woe to thy children, O Earth! I have brought.
