 | Areytos or songs and ballads of the South |  |
X.
He saddens—we have seen him—o'er the joy,
So well remembered, which had blest the boy;
Feels all the terrors which still rise before,
And mock the curious thought which would explore.
But doth he shrink or tremble? Doth he stay,
With more than moment pause, his venturous way,
Though the dark piles inclose him from the day—
Yield to the weakness of his dreaming mood—
Shrink from the peril that still warms his blood—
The hope forego, forgetful of his aim,
And all the fervid courage caught from Fame?
So well remembered, which had blest the boy;
Feels all the terrors which still rise before,
And mock the curious thought which would explore.
But doth he shrink or tremble? Doth he stay,
With more than moment pause, his venturous way,
Though the dark piles inclose him from the day—
Yield to the weakness of his dreaming mood—
Shrink from the peril that still warms his blood—
The hope forego, forgetful of his aim,
And all the fervid courage caught from Fame?
When did Ambition pause upon his march—
Generous Ambition, whose wide-seeing eye,
Following the sun's proud passage through the arch—
Forget the resolute will, the purpose high,
That teaches still the single course to run?
So the brave eagle in his native skies,
Steering with giant pinion to the sun,
Bathes in the blaze that blinds all humbler eyes!
Generous Ambition, whose wide-seeing eye,
Following the sun's proud passage through the arch—
Forget the resolute will, the purpose high,
That teaches still the single course to run?
So the brave eagle in his native skies,
242
Bathes in the blaze that blinds all humbler eyes!
| Areytos or songs and ballads of the South | |