 | The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth |  |
HOPE AND MEMORY.
Oh cease, busy Fancy, to conjure up pleasures,
That flit like bright phantoms o'er memory's glass,
And teach us to yearn for the forfeited treasures,
Which rise but to mock us, so swiftly they pass;
Which fade and dissolve into air, like a dream,
Or bubbles that glitter and break on the stream.
That flit like bright phantoms o'er memory's glass,
And teach us to yearn for the forfeited treasures,
Which rise but to mock us, so swiftly they pass;
Which fade and dissolve into air, like a dream,
Or bubbles that glitter and break on the stream.
And yet it is sweet, in our moments of sadness,
To gaze on the picture of former delights,
Till bounding again to the measure of gladness,
The heart has forgotten the sorrow that blights,
And revels a moment in joys that are passed,
But wakes to a bitterer pang than the last.
To gaze on the picture of former delights,
Till bounding again to the measure of gladness,
The heart has forgotten the sorrow that blights,
And revels a moment in joys that are passed,
But wakes to a bitterer pang than the last.
Yet Hope shall illumine the gloom of our sorrow,
The cherub whose smile is a life-giving ray;
Whose flattering promise of brightness to-morrow,
With ruddiness tinges the clouds of to-day.
Though Memory's visions may heighten our pain,
Yet Hope's sunny smile can assuage it again.
The cherub whose smile is a life-giving ray;
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With ruddiness tinges the clouds of to-day.
Though Memory's visions may heighten our pain,
Yet Hope's sunny smile can assuage it again.
| The poetical works of Samuel Woodworth | |