Poems (Hale)/The Past
For works with similar titles, see The Past.
THE PAST.
My tearful gaze I dare not cast
Upon the well-remembered past.
As bursts the sigh of vain regret,
Fain would my heart its scenes forget.
Upon the well-remembered past.
As bursts the sigh of vain regret,
Fain would my heart its scenes forget.
Deep on its tablets is impressed
The memory of those days most blest,
When time on golden wing flew by,
And rapture lit the sparkling eye.
The memory of those days most blest,
When time on golden wing flew by,
And rapture lit the sparkling eye.
Changed is the scene. How many a form,
Within whose veins life's tide flowed warm,
On its low bed in silence sleeps,
While kindred nature o'er it weeps!
Within whose veins life's tide flowed warm,
On its low bed in silence sleeps,
While kindred nature o'er it weeps!
Brighter than beam the sunny skies,
Where Europe's proudest columns rise,
Our hopes as stars of promise shone,
Now merged in night, forever gone.
Where Europe's proudest columns rise,
Our hopes as stars of promise shone,
Now merged in night, forever gone.
Our earthly hopes: one glorious goal,
Whose splendors fix the trusting soul,
As fair, as bright, as changeless glows,
While time with rapid current flows.
Whose splendors fix the trusting soul,
As fair, as bright, as changeless glows,
While time with rapid current flows.
God's presence, Faith's celestial theme,
Outrivals earth's most radiant beam;
Illumines sorrow's midnight sky,
And gilds joy's holy home on high.
Outrivals earth's most radiant beam;
Illumines sorrow's midnight sky,
And gilds joy's holy home on high.