 | Poems by William Stanley Roscoe |  |
69
FRIENDSHIP.
O that the voice of Friendship could delay
With powerful words the fleeting course of time;
Or bid him turn and wing his former way,
Thro' the fair path of youth's enchanting clime.
With powerful words the fleeting course of time;
Or bid him turn and wing his former way,
Thro' the fair path of youth's enchanting clime.
But vain the wish, and impotent the hand,
That would arrest him in his mid career;
And ceaseless flows the ever trembling sand,
That marks the moments of the ebbing year.
That would arrest him in his mid career;
And ceaseless flows the ever trembling sand,
That marks the moments of the ebbing year.
Nor plighted love, nor beauty's rosy smile,
With all their magic, all their sov'reign power,
Could e'er the tyrant's ruthless flight beguile,
Or bind his pinions in a parting hour.
With all their magic, all their sov'reign power,
Could e'er the tyrant's ruthless flight beguile,
Or bind his pinions in a parting hour.
70
O'er the bright eye he casts his clouding shade,
And tints the auburn locks with falling gray;
Touch'd by his hand the dreams of fancy fade,
And sorrow waits on life's declining day.
And tints the auburn locks with falling gray;
Touch'd by his hand the dreams of fancy fade,
And sorrow waits on life's declining day.
Yet some there are that spurn his harsh control,
Nor fear the anguish of his wounding dart;
On faith and hope repose the anxious soul,
And all the ripen'd virtues of the heart;
Nor fear the anguish of his wounding dart;
On faith and hope repose the anxious soul,
And all the ripen'd virtues of the heart;
Upon whose footsteps fairer visions wait
To thwart the terrors of his iron doom;
Smooth with mild hand the rugged brow of fate,
And guard the sweets of life's perennial bloom.
To thwart the terrors of his iron doom;
Smooth with mild hand the rugged brow of fate,
And guard the sweets of life's perennial bloom.
| Poems by William Stanley Roscoe | |