HOPE AND DESPAIR.
Clouds, dark and lowering, hid the sky;
Despair with cup of rue stood by
And sighed, "Drink, and be mine!"
But with such tears and moans she prayed,
To Hope I turned—the radiant maid—
And quaffed her rosy wine.
That instant heaven was sunny blue!—
And in my secret soul I knew
Despair, the coward, brought the shade,
Brave-hearted Hope the shine.
Despair with cup of rue stood by
And sighed, "Drink, and be mine!"
But with such tears and moans she prayed,
To Hope I turned—the radiant maid—
And quaffed her rosy wine.
That instant heaven was sunny blue!—
And in my secret soul I knew
Despair, the coward, brought the shade,
Brave-hearted Hope the shine.
"THIS, TOO, WILL PASS."
"This, too, will pass!" the Arab king
Engraved upon his signet ring;
And thus, through grief and joy, his heart
Dwelt, in eternal peace, apart.
Engraved upon his signet ring;
And thus, through grief and joy, his heart
Dwelt, in eternal peace, apart.
