Books ! sweet associates of the silent hour,
What blessed aspirations do I owe
To your companionship—your peaceful power
High and pure pleasure ever can bestow,—
Of noble ones I trace the path through life,
Joy in their joys, and sorrow as they mourn;
Gaze on their Christian animating strife,
And shed some fond tears o'er their untimely urn:
Or with heroic beings tread the soil
Of a freed country, by themselves made free,
And taste the recompense of virtuous toil,
The exaltation of humanity.