 | Later Lays and Lyrics |  |
143
WHAT I WOULD BE.
I.
What would I be? Not rich in goldAnd with a narrow heart,
Or, misanthropic, stern and cold,
Dwell from my kind apart?
I would not be a man of war,
Who looks on death unmoved,
Give me a title dearer far:
“The well-beloved!”
II.
I would not wear a laurel crown,Its leaves conceal the thorn;
Too oft the children of renown
Are friendless and forlorn.
Oh! let me lead a blameless life,
By young and old approved;
Called, in a world of sin and strife,
“The well beloved!”
III.
God grant me power to guard the weak,And sorrow's moaning hush,
And never feel upon my cheek
Dark Shame's betraying blush;
And when at my creator's call
From earth I am removed,
Let Friendship 'broider on my pall:
“The well beloved!”
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