Art and Fashion :: :: University of Virginia Library

The dew with gems shall bead the flower,
The bird make rich the morn with song;
And Mind, still climbing hour by hour,
Find worlds beyond the starry throng.

III

Years shall return to future years
What ages unto them have given,
And that high power which Faith reveals,
Grasp the fixed points of earth and Heaven.

IV

The boy shall loiter through the lane,
With school-ward footsteps short and slow;
Afraid each moment to remain,
And yet still more afraid to go!

V

Ah, priceless years! if boyhood knew
The mark and value of such time;
Ah, happy school! could youth but view
The future and its paths sublime.

VI

What younger Howard then might feel—
What other Wilberforce arise—
What Burke assert the general weal—
What Rosse or Newton span the skies!—

VII

The joys, the hopes, the interests,
That animate the bosom now,
Shall lend their glow to other breasts—
And flush the young enthusiast brow.

VIII

The majesty of manhood then
May aim at some diviner worth;
And progress grant to future men
A wider brotherhood on earth.

IX

What theory shall then succeed?
What deeper power—what newer theme—
What fresh discovery supersede
The electric flash—the steed of steam?

X

Who'll be the bard to England dear,
When centuries have filed and fled?
Or who the statesmen crowds will cheer,
Worthy the Peels or Chathams dead?

XI

The passions that distract mankind—
The pride, the envy, and mistrust—
Shall they be scatter'd on the wind
That lifts the banner of the just?

XII

Shall Christian sense e'er sheathe the sword?
Shall simple Justice rule the land?
Shall Law its shield of right afford,
A right that all may understand?

XIII

The languid sun fades in the sky;
The sap within the tree droops low;
The cold wind whispers winter nigh,
And soon the last lorn leaf must go!

XIV

Yet he who in all change can find
A providence of goodness shown—
He who is ruler o'er his mind
Is more than he who rules a throne.

XV

A day shall come I ne'er shall see,
A day when heart and tongue lie dumb;
That day, O Lord, be Thou with me—
And oh, on earth, Thy kingdom come!