 | The Shepherd's Garden |  |
115
THE SHEPHERD RENOUNCES HIS YOUTHFUL FANCIES.
Come in, ye wandering powers,
That all my life have been
Like butterflies in April bowers
When Time was fresh and green.
Tamed by the course of years,
Ye may not live to scorn
The baptism of those common tears
To which mankind was born.
That all my life have been
Like butterflies in April bowers
When Time was fresh and green.
Tamed by the course of years,
Ye may not live to scorn
The baptism of those common tears
To which mankind was born.
Bring here your withered lies
Unto this funeral pyre,
Wherefrom new-fledgèd hopes may rise
Of loftier desire.
Let pride despise his throne,
And sit upon the ground:
Let selfishness forsake his own,
And to his friends abound.
Unto this funeral pyre,
Wherefrom new-fledgèd hopes may rise
Of loftier desire.
Let pride despise his throne,
And sit upon the ground:
Let selfishness forsake his own,
And to his friends abound.
Lay all your lusts aside:
Your foolish whims decrease:
To nobler purposes allied,
Let wanton follies cease.
Let passion wait on calm:
Let youthful noise be still:
And for the lover's song, the psalm
Smooth up the fretted will.
Your foolish whims decrease:
To nobler purposes allied,
Let wanton follies cease.
116
Let youthful noise be still:
And for the lover's song, the psalm
Smooth up the fretted will.
Behold the heavenly feast
Upon God's table shine,
Whereat, by Reason's graces blest,
High Wisdom's children dine.
This is that place of love
Of which the sages tell;
This gilds those palaces above
Wherein the angels dwell.
Upon God's table shine,
Whereat, by Reason's graces blest,
High Wisdom's children dine.
This is that place of love
Of which the sages tell;
This gilds those palaces above
Wherein the angels dwell.
| The Shepherd's Garden | |