 | The path of sorrow, or, the lament of youth |  |
STANZAS—WHAT IS LIFE!
I.
Life is a two-fold essence of the Lord—The spirit of the fervency of heaven;
'Tis earth's progenitor, and the reward
Which God's belov'd benevolence has given,—
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And symbol of divinity above!
II.
Our life is that phenomena displayed,The hidden nature of its source concealed;
It is an immortality array'd—
In robes of frail mortality revealed;
Whose vast horizon paints the gorgeous skies,
With beauty, and with never-fading dies.
III.
Our life is that Eternity on high,Depicted in the livery of our clay;
Which shall awake us, till we come to die,
And lead the soul by God's eternal ray,
Where its emblazonry shall shine afar;
And be the soul's own lamp and heavenly star.
IV.
Our life is that eternity in weal,Which heaven's husbandman has scattered wide,—
Amidst the tares of earth; and we must feel
Resigned to death, as he, who bowed and died;
And rose to life eternal, in the skies—
Whose source of glory never, never dies.
V.
Our life is that which never shall decay—Although mortality shall fade and die!
It is immortal! and shall flee away,
To that eternal bourne, above the sky;
It is the breath of God's eclectic flame,
And shall resist decay—while in our frame.
VI.
Our life is that pure spark of heavenly love,The glow of resurrection's cloudless morn;
It is the Herald—that obsequious dove,
Which flew from heaven, at creation's dawn,
Upon a golden pinion, through the blue,
And ether of an everlasting hue!
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VII.
Our life is that vicisitude of earth,We garner from the world, by nature's skill;
Whose essence wakes organic birth,
To sentiment, and sympathy, and will;
By strict obedience to the ruling word,
Which thundered from the breathings of the Lord.
VIII.
Our life is that remorse which rends the heart!From objects which awake organic sense;
It is that essence which can ne'er depart,
And stands organic action's sure defence;
A rivulet which runs from God's great sea,
An ocean, boundless as Eternity!
IX.
Our life is that coadjutor—the soul—Which vivifies this nothingness of clay;
And makes contrition in the bosom roll!
It wakes the starlight of eternal day;
The fire of God—a river which has ran
From heaven! it is the immortal flame of man!
X.
Our life is that asperity which rendsThe heart, in sorrow's path—a piercing thorn!
'Tis that pernicity of doubt, which ends
In immortality, at that great morn—
The resurrection far beyond the skies;
And blessings of the soul which never dies!
XI.
Our life is that remorse and vile regret,Which rends the bosom in the midst of weal!
It is a spark my life shall ne'r forget,
An impulse which my heart can ne'er conceal!—
It is a ray, conducted to a thought,
Which inundates myself in all but nought.
XII.
Our life is that which God has given,—The glory of his wisdom and his love!
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Which flows from his Eternity, above!
The source—our Alpha and Omega be—
I hope to wear it in eternity!
| The path of sorrow, or, the lament of youth | |