 | Poems, original and translated |  |
120
TO A YOUNG FRIEND.
How sweet to them that sail the seas
At twilight's peaceful hour to hear,
Borne from the shore on evening's breeze,
Familiar voices low and clear!
At twilight's peaceful hour to hear,
Borne from the shore on evening's breeze,
Familiar voices low and clear!
E'en so, as o'er the sea of time
In life's mysterious bark we glide,
The listening spirit hears the chime
Of memory's bells across the tide.
In life's mysterious bark we glide,
The listening spirit hears the chime
Of memory's bells across the tide.
How sweetly fall, in summer's night,
The moonbeams on the glimmering main!
How fair the wake of living light,
Far-stretching o'er the mystic plain!
The moonbeams on the glimmering main!
How fair the wake of living light,
Far-stretching o'er the mystic plain!
And memory's holy moonlight glow,
How sweet along life's landscape shed;
Transfiguring forms of long ago,
And summoning to life the dead!
How sweet along life's landscape shed;
Transfiguring forms of long ago,
And summoning to life the dead!
In memory's gleam and friendship's glow,
So may thy gliding moments shine;
And peace, as of a river's flow
Beneath a summer moon, be thine!
So may thy gliding moments shine;
And peace, as of a river's flow
Beneath a summer moon, be thine!
And beaming down from heavens above,
And up from memory's mirrored tide,
May stars of pure, immortal love
Encircle thee on every side!
And up from memory's mirrored tide,
May stars of pure, immortal love
Encircle thee on every side!
| Poems, original and translated | |