To John Lamb, Esq.: Of the South-Sea House
John, you were figuring in the gay career
Of blooming manhood with a young man's joy,
When I was yet a little peevish boy —
Though time has made the difference disappear
Betwixt our ages, which then seemed so great —
And still by rightful custom you retain
Much of the old authoritative strain,
And keep the elder brother up in state.
O! you do well in this. 'Tis man's worst deed
To let the " things that have been " run to waste,
And in the unmeaning present sink the past:
In whose dim glass even now I faintly read
Old buried forms, and faces long ago,
Which you, and I, and one more, only know.
Of blooming manhood with a young man's joy,
When I was yet a little peevish boy —
Though time has made the difference disappear
Betwixt our ages, which then seemed so great —
And still by rightful custom you retain
Much of the old authoritative strain,
And keep the elder brother up in state.
O! you do well in this. 'Tis man's worst deed
To let the " things that have been " run to waste,
And in the unmeaning present sink the past:
In whose dim glass even now I faintly read
Old buried forms, and faces long ago,
Which you, and I, and one more, only know.
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