Classic Poem

AFFLICTION .

Close ye, dark shadows, round my head,
And wrap me in eternal night!
My little world of joy is dead,
And all is darkness to my sight.

FRIENDSHIP .

Come, gentle mourner, turn this way —
Lo! Pleasure dalls thee from her bow'rs;
She'll make thy path with frolics gay,
And deck it with her fairest flow'rs.

AFFLICTION .

Her fairest flow'rs, in vain for me,
Display their bright enchanting bloom —
Entwin'd with cypress wou'd they be,
Or scatter'd o'er my D AMON 's tomb.
Ah! do'st thou think her sportive airs,
Her soft delusions; can prevail, —
When fond Affection's tend'rest cares,
And thine, oh Friendship! — thine can fail!

FRIENDSHIP .

But gaze on Wealth — more solid joy
His glitt'ring treasures shall impart;
And costly banquets shall destroy
The sadness that corrodes thy heart.

AFFLICTION .

His charms may gorgeous Wealth reveal,
(By Avarice and the world carest)
While bleeding Mem'ry still must feel
The poverty within my breast.

FRIENDSHIP .

Oh then, let bold Ambition speak —
The glow of Grandeur and of Fame,
Shall dry the tear that's on thy cheek,
And kindle now a nobler flame.

AFFLICTION .

Ah, no! — that flame may fiercely burn;
Its fatal torch, to thousands known! —
The fire that burns on D AMON 's urn,
Consumes my heart, — but mine alone.

FRIENDSHIP .

Behold! Religion, from the skies!
Tho' simply clad, in garments mean, —
There's heav'nly Mercy in her eyes,
And comfort in her smile serene.

AFFLICTION .

I feel the sunbeam in my soul,
It melts the harden'd ice away:
Ah! what can Sorrow's pow'r controul,
But lustre from Eternal Day?