Poems (Stoddard)/"O friend, begin a loftier song"
"O FRIEND, BEGIN A LOFTIER SONG."
O FRIEND, begin a loftier song.Confusion falls upon your mind;A sense of evil makes you blind;"What use," you say, "is it to be?I know not God, God knows not me!"
O friend, begin a loftier song.In other minds you place no trust:You tread your laurels in the dust:You see no Future, Hope has fled,Youth had its dreams, but Youth is dead.
O friend, begin a loftier song."The sweet ideal of past yearsSpeaks in my songs, they are my tears: I'll weep no more, I'll sing no laysTo bury Youth for idle praise!"
O friend, begin a loftier song.Come through the gateway of the Past,Dear friend. The world will hear at lastThe little songs the poets sing:Do thou with anthems make it ring!