University of Virginia Library

Search this document 

NOCTURNE.

When I've seen the little infant
To bearded manhood grown,
With cares of life upon him
And children of his own;
When I recollect the sapling
My boyish eyes did see,
To every breeze a plaything,—
Now grown a mighty tree;

42

When I see the forest monarch
I well knew in his prime
Now lying prone, a victim
To the stayless trend of Time;
When I stand and cast about me,
Like one lost and alone,
And call for old companions,
To find they all are gone;
Then I feel like one who searches
In vain the ashes o'er
To find a spark to kindle
A hearth that glows no more.