Madmoments: or First Verseattempts By a Bornnatural. Addressed to the Lightheaded of Society at Large, by Henry Ellison |
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FAME. |
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 | Madmoments: or First Verseattempts |  |
FAME.
1.
I thought I should be happy, if the WreathOf Fame might but for once o'ershade my Brow,
But I have learnt from others' Fate to know
My Error, for the Pulse still throbs beneath
Those idle Laurels, and the withering Breath
Of Disappointment not the less doth blow
Upon our Hopes— alas! it is not so
Real Happiness is won: these Joys to Death
Are offered up, like Flowers on the Grave!
A more substantial Bliss the Heart doth crave:
Life was not meant to be a Dream, and we
Abuse that divine Gift of Fancy, save
When we employ its sublime Agency
To raise the Real by Hope of Things to be!
2.
For this End was Imagination madeOur Heritage, that we therein a Sign
Might have of Birth and Destiny divine:
That still as from Life's flowers the bloom should fade,
And narrower grow our Cares, by its bless'd Aid
We might enlarge our Realm: o'erstep the Line
Within which Life's vain Sorrows would confine,
And see the Promiseland before us spread,
Wider and wider, like the growing Day.
The bitterest punishment that falls on those
Who worship Mammon, is the sure Decay
Of Fancy: she her glorious wings must close,
217
To feed Faith's Altar burning fast away.
| Madmoments: or First Verseattempts | |