 | The poetical writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck, with extracts from those of Joseph Rodman Drake |  |
231
MEMORY.
Strong as that power whose strange control
Impels the torrent's force;
Directs the needle to the pole,
And bids the waves of ocean roll
In their appointed course;
So powerful are the ties that bind
The scenes of childhood to the mind;
So firmly to the heart adheres
The memory of departed years.
Impels the torrent's force;
Directs the needle to the pole,
And bids the waves of ocean roll
In their appointed course;
So powerful are the ties that bind
The scenes of childhood to the mind;
So firmly to the heart adheres
The memory of departed years.
Whence is this passion in the breast?
That when the past we view,
And think on pleasures, once possessed,
In Fancy's fairest colors dressed,
Those pleasures we renew?
And why do memory's pains impart
A pleasing sadness to the heart?
What potent charm to all endears
The days of our departed years?
That when the past we view,
And think on pleasures, once possessed,
In Fancy's fairest colors dressed,
Those pleasures we renew?
And why do memory's pains impart
A pleasing sadness to the heart?
What potent charm to all endears
The days of our departed years?
True—many a rose-bud, blooming gay,
Life's opening path adorns;
But all who tread that path will say
That, 'mid the flowers which strew its way,
Are care's corroding thorns.
Yet still the bosom will retain
Affection even for hours of pain;
And we can smile, though bathed in tears,
At memory of departed years.
Life's opening path adorns;
But all who tread that path will say
That, 'mid the flowers which strew its way,
Are care's corroding thorns.
232
Affection even for hours of pain;
And we can smile, though bathed in tears,
At memory of departed years.
'Tis distance, our bewildered gaze
On former scenes, beguiles,
And memory's charm the eye betrays;
For while enjoyments it displays
And robes the past in smiles,
Its flattering mirror proves untrue,
Conceals the sorrows from our view,
And hides the griefs, the doubts, and fears,
That darkened our departed years!
On former scenes, beguiles,
And memory's charm the eye betrays;
For while enjoyments it displays
And robes the past in smiles,
Its flattering mirror proves untrue,
Conceals the sorrows from our view,
And hides the griefs, the doubts, and fears,
That darkened our departed years!
Time, when our own, we oft despise;
When gone, its loss deplore;
Nor, till the fleeting moment flies,
Do mortals learn its worth to prize,
When it returns no more.
For this, an anxious look we cast,
With fond regret, on hours long past—
For this, the feeling heart reveres
The memory of departed years!
When gone, its loss deplore;
Nor, till the fleeting moment flies,
Do mortals learn its worth to prize,
When it returns no more.
For this, an anxious look we cast,
With fond regret, on hours long past—
For this, the feeling heart reveres
The memory of departed years!
1810.
| The poetical writings of Fitz-Greene Halleck, with extracts from those of Joseph Rodman Drake | |