Classic Poem

With the life the Creaton has deemed wise to give,
He has woven with each a deep yearning to live;
And existence is bliss if we follow the light,
Nor blot out in folly our sense of the right.
If I cannot live alway I would love to stay
Many years with the friends who are near me to-day.

For the earth and the sky, and the dark rolling sea
Have each day a new charm and fresh beauty for me.
I tire not to look on this beautiful world
Each morn as the curtains of night are unfurled;
I gaze on the vast dome of heaven at night,
And am thrilled with deep awe at the glorious sight.
Then the march of the seasons that pass swiftly on
'Till spring, summer, autumn, and winter are gone;
And spring comes again with its light and its bloom
To mock at the waste and the blight of the tomb.
These all have their charms and their pleasures to give,
And are all meant to gladden the life that we live.
'Tis not manly to grieve at the troubles of life.
'Tis not brave when we shrink from its cares and its strife.
The clouds and the shadows that hang o'er our way,
Let us buffet them bravely or smile them away.
To decry this fair world by His hand spread abroad
Is to sneer at the wisdom and goodness of God.
But “would I live alway?” Most surely I would,
If this body and mind would still serve me for good,
If the joys of my youth and my manhood could stay,
And the friends that I love could be with me alway.
But since all living creatures are doomed to decay,
It is idle to talk of not passing away.