Ballads for the Times (Now first collected,) Geraldine, A Modern Pyramid, Bartenus, A Thousand Lines, and other poems. By Martin F. Tupper. A new Edition, enlarged and revised |
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 | Ballads for the Times |  |
353
Past, Present, and Future.
A sad sweet gladness, full of tears,
And thoughts that never cloy
Of careless childhood's happier years,
Is Memory's tranquil joy;
And thoughts that never cloy
Of careless childhood's happier years,
Is Memory's tranquil joy;
A rapturous and delusive dream
Of pleasures ne'er to be,
That o'er life's troubled waters gleam,
Is Hope's sweet reverie:
Of pleasures ne'er to be,
That o'er life's troubled waters gleam,
Is Hope's sweet reverie:
Yet, before Memory can look back,
When Hope is lost in sight,
Ah! where is Memory's fairy track,
Ah! where is Hope's delight?
When Hope is lost in sight,
Ah! where is Memory's fairy track,
Ah! where is Hope's delight?
The present is a weary scene,
And always wish'd away;
We live on “to be” and “has been,”
But never on “to-day.”
And always wish'd away;
We live on “to be” and “has been,”
But never on “to-day.”
| Ballads for the Times | |