A GAIN beneath our early home,
I meet thee, fill'd with hope and gladness,
But soon, too soon, the time will come,
When tears of joy will change to sadness.
I knew thee once, a beauteous child,
That sweetly in the cradle smiled;
And I have rock'd thee as thou slept,
And o'er thy slumbers vigils kept;
And I have heard thee lisp my name,—
And I have loved thee still the same,
And thought of thee, when far away
Within the dwelling of the stranger;
Through lingering eve, and livelong day,
Or in the darkest hour of danger.
I see thee now a vernal flow'r,
Its hue and fragrancy unfolding;
And oh! in spring's delightful bow'r,
What fairer form is worth beholding!—
And other changes still will come,
And thou wilt leave thine early home;
And other friends will meet thy gaze,
And other tongues will speak thy praise,
And Providence thy life will bless,
With plenty, peace, and happiness.
Oh then, when I am far away,
And thou art given to another,
Wilt thou among the proud and gay
Remember still thy distant brother!
Thus on the rapid years will pass,
And life's bright summer sun be shaded;
And then thine image in the glass,
Will tell thee how those charms are faded.
And friends will leave thee, one by one,
Till all thy intimates are gone;
And sorrow then will cloud thy brow,
So beautiful and joyous now,
Till all the pleasures known before,
Shall be experienced no more:
And then the final change will come,
And all the ties of life will sever;
And thou wilt sleep beneath the tomb,
To wake but once again, for ever!
And what is life? 'tis all of time
That to the human race is given;
A rugged path which all must climb,
That sinks to hell or mounts to heaven.
'Tis like the flowing of a stream,
Or like the changes of a dream,
The dream that flits across the mind,
Leaves no reality behind;
The stream is lost beneath the sea,
As time beneath eternity.
Eternity! a boundless deep,
Devouring time since earth's creation,
Where time and nature both must sleep,
Hereafter in annihilation!
'Tis not the joys that earth can give,
Though good, and pure, and worth possessing,
For which the prudent mind will live,
Or which will prove its greatest blessing.
The path of peace and innocence,
A conscience void of all offence,—
The Christian's faith, the Christian's love,
The gift that cometh from above,
Are higher, nobler ends than this,
And sources of a purer bliss.
Oblivion soon will spread its pall,
Eternity will ope its portals;
Alas to man, if earth were all
Of happiness to dying mortals!
May'st thou, my sister, seek the prize,
That lasts though poverty assail thee;
A heritance beyond the skies,
A treasure that will never fail thee.
May peace and plenty deck thy shrine,
Be health and reason ever thine;
May truth and virtue guide thy ways,
Through life's perplex'd and thorny maze;—
And may religion guard thy path,
Through life, and through the gates of death;
Then, when thy form in darkness lies,
And moulders in its peaceful slumbers,
Serenely may thy spirit rise
Where angels hymn their tuneful numbers!
I meet thee, fill'd with hope and gladness,
But soon, too soon, the time will come,
When tears of joy will change to sadness.
I knew thee once, a beauteous child,
That sweetly in the cradle smiled;
And I have rock'd thee as thou slept,
And o'er thy slumbers vigils kept;
And I have heard thee lisp my name,—
And I have loved thee still the same,
And thought of thee, when far away
Within the dwelling of the stranger;
Through lingering eve, and livelong day,
Or in the darkest hour of danger.
I see thee now a vernal flow'r,
Its hue and fragrancy unfolding;
And oh! in spring's delightful bow'r,
What fairer form is worth beholding!—
And other changes still will come,
And thou wilt leave thine early home;
And other friends will meet thy gaze,
And other tongues will speak thy praise,
And Providence thy life will bless,
With plenty, peace, and happiness.
Oh then, when I am far away,
And thou art given to another,
Wilt thou among the proud and gay
Remember still thy distant brother!
Thus on the rapid years will pass,
And life's bright summer sun be shaded;
And then thine image in the glass,
Will tell thee how those charms are faded.
And friends will leave thee, one by one,
Till all thy intimates are gone;
And sorrow then will cloud thy brow,
So beautiful and joyous now,
Till all the pleasures known before,
Shall be experienced no more:
And then the final change will come,
And all the ties of life will sever;
And thou wilt sleep beneath the tomb,
To wake but once again, for ever!
And what is life? 'tis all of time
That to the human race is given;
A rugged path which all must climb,
That sinks to hell or mounts to heaven.
'Tis like the flowing of a stream,
Or like the changes of a dream,
The dream that flits across the mind,
Leaves no reality behind;
The stream is lost beneath the sea,
As time beneath eternity.
Eternity! a boundless deep,
Devouring time since earth's creation,
Where time and nature both must sleep,
Hereafter in annihilation!
'Tis not the joys that earth can give,
Though good, and pure, and worth possessing,
For which the prudent mind will live,
Or which will prove its greatest blessing.
The path of peace and innocence,
A conscience void of all offence,—
The Christian's faith, the Christian's love,
The gift that cometh from above,
Are higher, nobler ends than this,
And sources of a purer bliss.
Oblivion soon will spread its pall,
Eternity will ope its portals;
Alas to man, if earth were all
Of happiness to dying mortals!
May'st thou, my sister, seek the prize,
That lasts though poverty assail thee;
A heritance beyond the skies,
A treasure that will never fail thee.
May peace and plenty deck thy shrine,
Be health and reason ever thine;
May truth and virtue guide thy ways,
Through life's perplex'd and thorny maze;—
And may religion guard thy path,
Through life, and through the gates of death;
Then, when thy form in darkness lies,
And moulders in its peaceful slumbers,
Serenely may thy spirit rise
Where angels hymn their tuneful numbers!