Page:Poems of home and country (IA poemsofhomecount01smit).pdf/80

 Tho' sunk in the ocean or dashed on the reef,

The more grand their career, the more sad and more brief;

Tho' the plants we have loved to angels are given,

Having climbed o'er the wall, and are blooming in heaven,—

Still this chain of our love does not weaken with years,

Nor wear with the friction of toil and of tears;

Nor crumble in dust, nor vanish like breath;

Nor chill with the darkness, and shadow of death;

Nor perish in shipwreck, nor waste in the tomb,—

A thing to be lost in earth's gathering gloom.

Tho' Time's jealous fingers make all things decay,

We brighten its links as the years pass away;

We fastened the lock in our youth and our glee,

Then wandered abroad and have lost the sole key.

But the heart-clasp unites so firmly the chain

That 't is welded by time, and must ever remain.

IKE a swift racer, clear the lines

That cross thy life's unfolding plan,

And leave the plays that please the child,

For toils that dignify the man.

The world before thee waits thy choice;

The coming years to thee belong.

With stern ambition climb the heights;

Let hardships only make thee strong.