Poems (Taggart)/The Use of Afflictions
THE USE OF AFFLICTIONS.1822.
My fainting life now longs to die, Then mourns untimely fate;And then all those I long to fly, That are with joys elate.
But the most happy oft lament, And do their griefs confess:Now joy prevails, and now despair With icy chilliness.
For earthly pleasures quickly pass, And vanish quite away;And sorrow, sickness, pain, and death Obscure the brightest day.
But far beyond this world of woe, Of grief, regret, and gloom,For those who sought fair wisdom's path, Unfading pleasures bloom.
The wise Disposer of events Hath, in his mercy, givenThose sore afflictions, to prepare And fit our souls for Heaven.