 | Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems |  |
171
BE WISE TO-DAY.
O happy they,
Who, wise to-day,
Cut off the bud of sorrow!
Much woe he spares,
Sharp sighs and prayers,
Who is wise before to-morrow.
Who, wise to-day,
Cut off the bud of sorrow!
Much woe he spares,
Sharp sighs and prayers,
Who is wise before to-morrow.
O foolish mind
Of Adam's kind!
Pride walks with vaunting paces;
When the wrong is done,
Lost Error's son
His limping march retraces.
Of Adam's kind!
Pride walks with vaunting paces;
When the wrong is done,
Lost Error's son
His limping march retraces.
What skill shall bind
The bleeding mind,
When bitter memory grieves it?
We bear a scar
From folly's war,
When only God perceives it.
The bleeding mind,
181
We bear a scar
From folly's war,
When only God perceives it.
Could mortal clay
Shake sin away,
Like dress, then all were holy;
But we breathe here
The atmosphere,
And element of folly.
Shake sin away,
Like dress, then all were holy;
But we breathe here
The atmosphere,
And element of folly.
O spirits kind,
On mortals blind
Look with an eye of sorrow!
Unless ye guide,
My prancing pride
Will be wise in vain to-morrow.
On mortals blind
Look with an eye of sorrow!
Unless ye guide,
My prancing pride
Will be wise in vain to-morrow.
| Lays and Legends of Ancient Greece, with Other Poems | |