 | The Last Poems of Philip Freneau |  |
14
Stanzas Written in an Ancient Burial Ground
“When troubles come, and cares perplex,
(An ancient Roman said)
“We have the right, and tis the best
To mingle with the dead”
(An ancient Roman said)
“We have the right, and tis the best
To mingle with the dead”
This we deny—when cares distract,
And days of woe arrive;
'Tis wrong to do the coward act,
'Tis nobler, far, to live.
And days of woe arrive;
'Tis wrong to do the coward act,
'Tis nobler, far, to live.
These, discontented with the cheerful day,
Tired of a Sun that gave them no delight.
With life disgust'ed, forced their grovelling way,
To the dark chambers of eternal night.
Tired of a Sun that gave them no delight.
With life disgust'ed, forced their grovelling way,
To the dark chambers of eternal night.
If from the skies a spark celestial came
That warms our clay, a spirit that commands,
For some wise cause, it animates our frame,
Here doom'd to stay 'till fate dissolves the bands.
That warms our clay, a spirit that commands,
For some wise cause, it animates our frame,
Here doom'd to stay 'till fate dissolves the bands.
Who'er thou art that with presumptive hand
Aims at the heart the death conducting steel,
Not guiltless at the awful Bar will stand,
Were all are judged, and doom'd without appeal.
Aims at the heart the death conducting steel,
Not guiltless at the awful Bar will stand,
Were all are judged, and doom'd without appeal.
Life is probation—all our years a task,
A task of toil—but with it man should bear,
'Till life's rude winter, and its storms, are past
And brighter scenes in brighter worlds appear.
A task of toil—but with it man should bear,
'Till life's rude winter, and its storms, are past
And brighter scenes in brighter worlds appear.
| The Last Poems of Philip Freneau | |