Poems (Ryan)/The Future Gleams
THE FUTURE GLEAMS.
The future gleams with beauteous light, Life's far-off isles are green; Untasted joys are always bright, The distant sea serene. And sunlight shining through the rain Gives the bright bow its form; Whose gorgeous tints will even then Evanish in the storm.
Delusion hides her snares and griefs, In meshes strangely fair, Wise men are wrecked on Beauty's reefs, And sink in dark despair. Though phantom hopes of joy and love, May sweetly charm the ear, They, to our woe, oft bubbles prove, And pass away in air.
But stem life's tide. Do not despair Beneath a midnight sky, For silently the morning fair Is surely drawing nigh. E'en though the heart is racked with pain, Frowns will those pangs increase, While smiles, like sunshine through the rain, Will form Hope's bow of peace.