 | Poems and Songs by E. H. B. [i.e. E. H. Bickersteth] |  |
61
LINES ADDRESSED TO --- ON ATTAINING TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE.
I
You ask me, my ---, some tones from my lyre,And though fled is the muse, and faded the fire,
I'll fan the lone embers and kneel at the shrine
Which welcomed the day-dawn by mem'ry as thine.
II
Love still has watched o'er thee—thy mother's—more pureThan the cold world may offer thy path to allure;
It will follow thee ever—mid sickness—decay;
When life's sunshine is darkened—a light on thy way.
III
Oh! cherish it ever—be honour thy guide;Religion—a handmaid to wait at thy side;
When doubt shall assail thee—oh! list to the voice
Which conscience still whispers and hallows thy choice.
62
IV
Let folly not tempt thee with gaud and with snare:'Tis a Syren—how treach'rous! yet outwardly fair;—
But wisdom's path choose, wherein pleasures abound,
While flow'rs of bright beauty enamel the ground.
V
Has nature around you a kindred chain flung?'Tis a refuge—a safeguard—where oft thou hast clung.
Oh! keep it unsevered by coldness and strife—
Thy brothers—thy sisters—are blessings for life.
VI
Bear with me awhile—Ah! think not that nowDissolved is thy duty, or cancelled thy vow—
'Tis ever abiding—midst night's darkest gloom,
A halo—a brightness in life's latest noon.
VII
Be thy days blessed for ever—an unbroken stream,Nor ruffled by passion, nor pride's lofty dream;
A while flowing onward to join its pure source,
Nought causing thee sorrow—nought waking remorse.
| Poems and Songs by E. H. B. [i.e. E. H. Bickersteth] | |