The appeal of Poland An ode. Written on the commencement of the late campaign. By W. S. Walker |
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STANZAS.
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 | The appeal of Poland |  |
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STANZAS.
[I saw thy young unwrinkled brow]
I saw thy young unwrinkled brow
Smiling with hope, with pleasure bright;
I saw thine eyes, unheeding how,
Shoot forth a pure and playful light.
Smiling with hope, with pleasure bright;
I saw thine eyes, unheeding how,
Shoot forth a pure and playful light.
I thought, if e'er there breathed on earth
A thing too good for sin to own,
A thing whose very grace and worth
Might tempt a fostering angel down—
A thing too good for sin to own,
A thing whose very grace and worth
Might tempt a fostering angel down—
Such was thy soul—that, yet unstained,
Fresh from its Maker's hand sublime,
Young, new, and blooming still remained,
Like a creation in its prime.
Fresh from its Maker's hand sublime,
Young, new, and blooming still remained,
Like a creation in its prime.
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As shelter'd by its glassy roof
The orient flower through winter blows,
Like hope to wintry sorrows proof,
While all around is white with snows:
The orient flower through winter blows,
Like hope to wintry sorrows proof,
While all around is white with snows:
So thou, fair flower, amid the gloom
Of this bad world dost fearless blow,
While o'er the wild thy tender bloom
Sheds far a sweet and lonely glow.
Of this bad world dost fearless blow,
While o'er the wild thy tender bloom
Sheds far a sweet and lonely glow.
May Heaven's enlightening influence guide
Thy spirit in its earthly way!
Oh! never may thy footsteps glide
In guilt's polluting maze to stray!
Thy spirit in its earthly way!
Oh! never may thy footsteps glide
In guilt's polluting maze to stray!
Thy crime would be its own reward;
No need of heaven's avenging blast;
Grief would destroy what sin had marred,
And thy first trespass be thy last.
No need of heaven's avenging blast;
Grief would destroy what sin had marred,
And thy first trespass be thy last.
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