University of Virginia Library


182

[Let no vain hopes deceive the mind]

Let no vain hopes deceive the mind:
No happier let us hope to find
To-morrow than to-day:
Our golden dreams of yore were bright—
Like them the present shall delight,
Like them decay.
Our lives like hastening streams must be,
That into one engulfing sea
Are doomed to fall:
The sea of death—whose waves roll on,
O'er king and kingdom, crown and throne,
And swallow all!
Alike the river's lordly pride,
Alike the humble rivulet's glide
To that sad wave;
Death levels poverty and pride,
And rich and poor sleep side by side,
Within the grave!