Page:The Poets and Poetry of the West.djvu/114

 98 OTWAY CURRY. [1830-40. In life's proud dreams I have no part — No share in its resounding glee ; The musings of my weary heart Are in the grave with thee : There have been bitter tears of mine Above that lowly bed of thine. It seems to my fond memory now As it had been but yesterday, "When I was but a child, and thou Didst cheer me in my play ; And in the evenings, still and lone, Didst lull me with thy music-tone. And when the twilight hours begun, And shining constellations came, Thou bad'st me know each nightly sun. And con its ancient name ; For thou hast learned their lore and light "With watchings in the tranquil night. And then when leaning on thy tnee, I saw them in their grandeur rise. It was a joy, in sooth, to me : But now the starry skies Seem holier grown, and doubly fair, Since thou art with the angels there. The stream of life with huiTying flow Its course may bear me swiftly tlu'o' ; I grieve not, for I soon shall go. And by thy side renew The love which here for thee I bore. And never leave thy presence more. THE BLOSSOMS OF LIFE. Life is like a sweeping river. Ceaseless in its seaward flow — On whose waves quick sunbeams quiver. On whose banks sweet blossoms grow— Blossoms quick to grow and perish ; Swift to bloom and swift to fall ; Those we earliest learn to cherish Soonest pass beyond recall. Shall we lose them all forever? Leave them on this earthly strand? Shall their joyous radiance never Reach us in the spirit land ? Soon the tide of life upflowing Buoyantly from time's dim shore, Where supernal flowers are growing, Shall meander evermore. There the hopes that long have told us Of the climes beyond the tomb, "While superber skies enfold us, Shall renew their starry bloom. And the bloom that here in sadness Faded from the flowers of love, Shall with its immortal gladness Crown us in the world above. AUTUMN MUSINGS. 'T IS autumn. Many, and many a fleet- ing age Hath faded since the primal morn of Time ; And silently the slowly journeying years, All redolent of countless seasons, pass. The spring-time wakes in beauty, and is fraught "With power to thrill the leaping pulse of joy, And urge the footsteps of ideal hope "With flowery lightness on. In peerless day Resplendent summer garlandeth the world; And contemplation through her sky serene Ascends unwearied, emulous to lead. To marshal, and to proudly panoply The votaries of ambition as they rise. These with their gilded pageants disappear. And vestal Truth leads on the silent hours Of autumn's lonely reign. The weary gales Creep o'er the waters, and the sun-brown plains.