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259
STANZAS.
[They told me, in my earlier years]
They told me, in my earlier years,
Life was a dark and tangled web;
A gloomy sea of bitter tears,
Where sorrow's influx had no ebb.
Life was a dark and tangled web;
A gloomy sea of bitter tears,
Where sorrow's influx had no ebb.
But such was vainly taught and said,
My laugh rung out with joyous tone;
The woof possess'd one brilliant thread,
Of rainbow colours, all my own.
My laugh rung out with joyous tone;
The woof possess'd one brilliant thread,
Of rainbow colours, all my own.
They talk'd of trials, sighs, and grief,
And call'd the world a wilderness,
Where dazzling bud or fragrant leaf
But rarely sprung to cheer and bless.
And call'd the world a wilderness,
Where dazzling bud or fragrant leaf
But rarely sprung to cheer and bless.
But there was one dear precious flower
Engrafted in my bosom's core,
Which made my home an Eden bower,
And caused a doubt if heaven held more.
Engrafted in my bosom's core,
Which made my home an Eden bower,
And caused a doubt if heaven held more.
260
I boasted—till a mother's grave
Was heap'd and sodded—then I found
The sunshine stricken from the wave,
And all the golden thread unwound.
Was heap'd and sodded—then I found
The sunshine stricken from the wave,
And all the golden thread unwound.
Where was the flower I had worn
So fondly, closely, in my heart?
The bloom was crush'd, the root was torn,
And left a cureless, bleeding part.
So fondly, closely, in my heart?
The bloom was crush'd, the root was torn,
And left a cureless, bleeding part.
Preach on who will—say “Life is sad,”
I'll not refute as once I did;
You'll find the eye that beam'd so glad
Will hide a tear beneath its lid.
I'll not refute as once I did;
You'll find the eye that beam'd so glad
Will hide a tear beneath its lid.
Preach on of woe; the time hath been
I'd praise the world with shadeless brow:
The dream is broken.—I have seen
A mother die: I'm silent now.
I'd praise the world with shadeless brow:
The dream is broken.—I have seen
A mother die: I'm silent now.
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