Page:Poems of home and country (IA poemsofhomecount01smit).pdf/152

 Ambition mounts his fiery steeds,

Plumed o'er new heights to soar,

And waves aloft his potent wand

O'er subject sea and shore, -

Nurse thy fair bubble, man of pride,

Thyself, thy mighty care,

Reach forth for other worlds to rule,

And grasp, but empty air.

The athlete struggles in the race, -

The expected crown, his life;

Muscle and bone, and blood and nerve,

Tense with the cager strife;

O bootless task, such wreath to win!

Triumph, alas, how brief!

His valor, nought but force of limb;

His crown, a fading leaf.

Prond of the flag that o'er him waves,

Of deeds his bravery wrought,

Of rights secured, of wrongs redrest,

Of battles grandly fought, -

The warrior, with his sword unsheathed,

Cries, Victory-or-death!"

How soon his vaunted glory pales,

Brief as a passing breath.

Scorched on the line, chilled at the pole,

Tossed on the billowy foam,

Hope vainly lures the explorer on,

With tireless zeal to roam.

Perchance, he finds nor sea nor land;

The phantom onward leads:

The fame, the wealth, the rest he seeks,

False to his hopes, recedes.