Aquidneck a poem, pronounced on the hundredth anniversary Of the Incorporation of the Redwood Library Company, Newport, R. I. August XXIV. MDCCCXLVII. with other commemorative pieces |
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AN OLD MAN'S SENSATIONS AT THE RETURN OF SPRING. |
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AN OLD MAN'S SENSATIONS AT THE RETURN OF SPRING.
I feel thy breath, O Spring!
The fanning of thy wing
On these old withered cheeks—this furrowed brow;
The childhood of the year,
Its morning hour is here,
And mine own childhood breathes around me now.
The fanning of thy wing
On these old withered cheeks—this furrowed brow;
The childhood of the year,
Its morning hour is here,
And mine own childhood breathes around me now.
That tinkling rivulet
Goes singing, dancing yet,
Still sparkling, gleesome, to the sparkling sky;
It murmurs in my ear
A song I love to hear,
A sad, yet soothing strain of years gone by.
Goes singing, dancing yet,
Still sparkling, gleesome, to the sparkling sky;
It murmurs in my ear
A song I love to hear,
A sad, yet soothing strain of years gone by.
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“Gone by”! ah no! for still
My feebler pulses thrill
With childhood's ecstasies of hope and joy;
Though scarce this worn-out frame
Can bear the darting flame,
It lives and leaps—once more I am a boy!
My feebler pulses thrill
With childhood's ecstasies of hope and joy;
Though scarce this worn-out frame
Can bear the darting flame,
It lives and leaps—once more I am a boy!
A painted butterfly
Has just gone dancing by:
Ah! with him fluttered back those happy hours,
When, a light-hearted boy,
I chased the flying toy,
And sank, at last, on earth's soft lap of flowers.
Has just gone dancing by:
Ah! with him fluttered back those happy hours,
When, a light-hearted boy,
I chased the flying toy,
And sank, at last, on earth's soft lap of flowers.
Aye, childhood, thou art here,—
Why art thou then most near,
Bright morn of life, when death's still night draws nigh?
Is it that then the soul
Feels, near her earthly goal,
The heaven that floated round the infant's eye?
Why art thou then most near,
Bright morn of life, when death's still night draws nigh?
Is it that then the soul
Feels, near her earthly goal,
The heaven that floated round the infant's eye?
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Yes, blessed Saviour! thus
Hast thou declared to us;
For child-like spirits only, heaven can see.
And to a soul new-born,
A second childhood's morn
Shall be the daybreak of eternity!
Hast thou declared to us;
For child-like spirits only, heaven can see.
And to a soul new-born,
A second childhood's morn
Shall be the daybreak of eternity!
Mobile, Ala. March 26, 1843.
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