 | Selected poems by William J. Grayson |  |
142
THREESCORE YEARS AND SEVEN
Life's voyage, by rock and shoal, is near its close,
The billow buffeted, the gale endured;
Shattered in spars and hull, the vessel goes
Near the safe port from every storm secured.
The billow buffeted, the gale endured;
Shattered in spars and hull, the vessel goes
Near the safe port from every storm secured.
The road grows short; with frost or torrid skies,
By weary steps, hill, plain, and valley pressed,
Footsore and faint with toil the traveler eyes
The rising spire that marks the place of rest.
By weary steps, hill, plain, and valley pressed,
Footsore and faint with toil the traveler eyes
The rising spire that marks the place of rest.
The night is near at hand; the shadow steals,
With the last sunbeam, farther from the trees;
In mist and chill the waning moon reveals
Her light, and hollow sounds the evening breeze.
With the last sunbeam, farther from the trees;
In mist and chill the waning moon reveals
Her light, and hollow sounds the evening breeze.
The year is almost gone; the falling leaf,
Yellow and sere, flies far on every blast;
Spring flower, and summer fruit, and autumn sheaf
Gathered—its bright and beautiful are past.
Yellow and sere, flies far on every blast;
Spring flower, and summer fruit, and autumn sheaf
Gathered—its bright and beautiful are past.
Welcome! the port of refuge safe from storms,
Welcome! the silent city of repose,
Welcome! the night's dreams and visionary forms,
And winter's waste of purifying snows!
Welcome! the silent city of repose,
Welcome! the night's dreams and visionary forms,
And winter's waste of purifying snows!
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Another spring shall bloom; another day,
Brighter than hope, shall rise to set no more;
A fairer region court the traveler's stay,
And oceans, wreckless, spread without a shore.
Brighter than hope, shall rise to set no more;
A fairer region court the traveler's stay,
And oceans, wreckless, spread without a shore.
Launched on their bosom, to each starry sphere,
Beyond the reach of telescopic eye,
Farther than Fancy wings her swift career,
Radiant, like suns, unbodied spirits fly.
Beyond the reach of telescopic eye,
Farther than Fancy wings her swift career,
Radiant, like suns, unbodied spirits fly.
Stripped of their fleshly rags—the mortal chain
Of sensual appetite and passions vile—
Freed from the cankered earth, the sting, the stain
Of base pursuits that dazzle and beguile,
Of sensual appetite and passions vile—
Freed from the cankered earth, the sting, the stain
Of base pursuits that dazzle and beguile,
Companionship with seraphim they hold,
The endless chain of being they explore,
Nature's deep hidden mysteries unfold,
And, face to face, the Ineffable adore.
The endless chain of being they explore,
Nature's deep hidden mysteries unfold,
And, face to face, the Ineffable adore.
Strong with the vigor of immortal youth.
Beyond dim Reason's ken they speed their flight;
With Intuition's glance o'ermaster Truth,
And find in knowing ever new delight.
Beyond dim Reason's ken they speed their flight;
With Intuition's glance o'ermaster Truth,
And find in knowing ever new delight.
Again, with earnest gaze and outstretched arms,
They meet, oh thought of joy! the lost on earth,
Restored, renewed, arrayed in all the charms
That Love bestows on Heaven's diviner birth;
They meet, oh thought of joy! the lost on earth,
Restored, renewed, arrayed in all the charms
That Love bestows on Heaven's diviner birth;
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Restored to part no more, no more to know
The doubt, the fear, the change of mortal love;
To endless ages, hand in hand, they go,
Sharing and doubling all their joys above.
The doubt, the fear, the change of mortal love;
To endless ages, hand in hand, they go,
Sharing and doubling all their joys above.
Happiest of hearts on earth! the calm, the pure,
Aloof from vulgar joys and vain pursuits,
That seek through life, unswerving, to secure
Of nobler being these celestial fruits.
Aloof from vulgar joys and vain pursuits,
That seek through life, unswerving, to secure
Of nobler being these celestial fruits.
I ask no scholar's lore, no poet's lyre,
Trophy nor wreath that conquerors display,
Nor wealth, nor wit, nor eloquence desire,
Nor matchless wisdom, nor imperial sway,
Trophy nor wreath that conquerors display,
Nor wealth, nor wit, nor eloquence desire,
Nor matchless wisdom, nor imperial sway,
But faith—strong faith—that upward to the sky,
In every ill unshaken, undismayed,
Looks, like the eagle, with unblenching eye,
Steadfast and bright in sunlight and in shade.
In every ill unshaken, undismayed,
Looks, like the eagle, with unblenching eye,
Steadfast and bright in sunlight and in shade.
Let this be mine! and if the parting day
Grow dark, the waves seem black with winter's gloom,
Fearless, though rough and perilous the way,
I tread the path that leads me to the tomb.
Grow dark, the waves seem black with winter's gloom,
Fearless, though rough and perilous the way,
I tread the path that leads me to the tomb.
| Selected poems by William J. Grayson | |