Classic Poem

When I recall the days misspent,
The unabiding hours of youth,
The erring thoughts with pleasure bent,
The poor and shallow search for truth,
Then vain regrets take hold of me
That, sailing on the summer sea,
I dreamt not of a wintry flood
Which I must cross in solitude.

Had I but thought of this — descried
The stormy winds, the tempest strong,
The heaving wave, the darkling tide —
Discretion then had found a tongue.
I should have studied well the art
Of seamanship — the pilot's part —
Re-rigged my craft, without, within,
And laid my soul's provision in.

Repining! 'Tis the way with man:
Repine not; rest, O heart, secure!
Affections lie within thy span
Of thoughtlessness which must endure.
There friendship had its steadfast root,
There true love bore its fadeless fruit.
If these condemn, then let me be
Wrecked on the future's stormy sea!

Call back the past, and let us hear
Its tender voices as of yore;
Let the old welcomes greet the ear,
The old friends meet us as before.
And, ah! let memory fulfil
Her perfect task — bring back the thrill
Of chords long hushed, of loving sighs,
And eyliads from vanished eyes!

They are not dead, they do but sleep;
They come! I see, I feel them all.
By recollection touched, they leap
Responsive to the spirit's call.
Depart from me, ye vain regrets,
Ye selfish fears which time begets!
The future, like the past, is mine,
For memory's light is light divine.

Then courage! to the helm, the sail,
And let the roaring tempest frown!
What though the billows should prevail,
What though the whelming waters drown?
They cast us on the further shore:
Think not they change what nature bore —
Fond, unreflecting souls, yet true
To friendship, love, and Heaven, too!