Classic Poem

I lost myself in labyrinths of unexplored delight,
In wandering from the paths of sterner truth;
They seemed, beyond a doubt, all pleasing, fair, serene, and bright,
Such as would charm the wonder of a youth.

Behind, before, and all around, appearing to the eye
As one concerted scene of peaceful joy,
With pleasing streams of unpolluted pleasure flowing by,
And in it all I saw no base alloy.

The scope was boundless, and I wandered, still admiring all,
Indulging oft in free, unfettered thought;
In wonder wrapt, I wandered on, but found no rest withal,
As each new scene was to my fancy brought.

And in the future I could see with an imagining eye
A cheering prospect, rising pure and bright.
It seemed my future path in smooth, unchequered ways did lie,
That cares were easy and life's burdens light.

Amid the tranquils sweet around, and to my own design,
I built me castles of a towering height,
And thereto did my pleasures and my rising hopes resign,
Thought that these bulwarks would resist all might.

But, lo! they fell in ruined heaps, and mighty was the fall,
And my bright hopes lay ruined at my feet,
And the deluding dream of fancy passed away, and all
The scenes so fair did from me now retreat;

Like as the mirage travellers see upon the desert waste,
In view where cooling waters seem to rise,
And which the body longs to reach, the parched tongue to taste--
Alas! alas! such fancy is not wise.