Classic Poem

Vanity , vanity! dead hopes and fears,
Dim flitting phantoms of departed years,
Unsatisfying shadows, vague and cold,
Of thoughts and things that made my joys of old,
Sad memories of the kindly words and ways
And looks and loves of friends in other days —
Alas! all gone — a dream, a very dream,
A dream is all you are, and all you seem!

O life! I do forget thee: I look back,
And, lo! the desert wind has swept my track:
I stand upon this bare and solid ground,
And, strangely wakened, wonder all around;
How came I here? and whence? and whither tend?
Speak, friend! — if death and time have spared a friend;
Behold, the place that knew me well of yore,
Knoweth me not; and that familiar floor
Where all my kith and kin were wont to meet,
Is now grown strange, and throng'd by other feet.
O soul, my soul! consider thou that spot,
Root there thy gratitude, and leave it not;
Still let remembrance, with a swimming eye,
Live in those rooms, nor pass them coldly by!
Still let affection cling to those old days,
And yearning fondly paint them bright with praise:
O, once my home! with all thy blessings fled,
O, forms and faces! gathered to the dead,
O, scenes of joy and sorrow! faded fast —
How hollow sound thy footsteps, ghost-like Past !
An aching emptiness is all thou art,
A famine hid within the caverned heart.

Thou changeless ONE — how blest to have no change —
Only with thee, my God, I feel not strange:
Thou art the same for ever and for aye;
To-morrow and to-day as yesterday,
Thou art the same — a tranquil Present still;
There I can hide, and bless Thy sovereign will:
Yes, bless Thee, O my Father! that Thy love
Call'd in an instant to the bliss above
From ills to come, and grief, and care, and fear,
Thy type to me, most honoured and most dear!
O, true and tender spirit, pure and good,
So vex'd on earth, and little understood!
Thy gentle nature was not fit for strife,
But quail'd to meet the waking woes of life;
And therefore God our Father kindly made
Thy sleep a death, lest thou shouldst feel afraid!