 | Poems by Bernard Barton |  |
203
VERSES TO --- ---,
ON THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR MARRIAGE.
Sweet is the early dream of love,
When first we feel its sacred sway;
When earth around, and heaven above,
Seem lit by joy's new-dawning ray.
When first we feel its sacred sway;
When earth around, and heaven above,
Seem lit by joy's new-dawning ray.
Then nature's charms more radiant seem,
Opening fresh beauties to our view;
Joy dances on the sparkling stream,
Hope lends the flower its brightest hue.
Opening fresh beauties to our view;
Joy dances on the sparkling stream,
Hope lends the flower its brightest hue.
More chasten'd, but more justly dear,
Are love's delights in manhood's strife;
When month by month, and year by year,
Have brought us to the noon of life.
Are love's delights in manhood's strife;
When month by month, and year by year,
Have brought us to the noon of life.
Some of the fabrics Fancy built
In earlier hours, perchance have faded;
And many a prospect Hope had gilt,
Experience may have somewhat shaded:—
In earlier hours, perchance have faded;
And many a prospect Hope had gilt,
Experience may have somewhat shaded:—
204
Yet not the less we fondly prize
That which has stood Time's potent test;
What has surviv'd, still proudly vies,
With all we fancied we possess'd.
That which has stood Time's potent test;
What has surviv'd, still proudly vies,
With all we fancied we possess'd.
Earth's loveliest bower more lovely seems
In the sun's fierce meridian heat;
And thus in manhood's bustling schemes,
Domestic bliss is doubly sweet.
In the sun's fierce meridian heat;
And thus in manhood's bustling schemes,
Domestic bliss is doubly sweet.
But oh! more hallow'd, calm, and pure,
Than love's first dawn, or noon-tide ray,
Those milder glories which endure
Through both, and mark its closing day.
Than love's first dawn, or noon-tide ray,
Those milder glories which endure
Through both, and mark its closing day.
Then, then we know the light that blest
Our morn and zenith, God hath given;
Its beams, like suns which reach the west,
Seem opening vistas into heaven.
Our morn and zenith, God hath given;
Its beams, like suns which reach the west,
Seem opening vistas into heaven.
For you, who, in a good old age,
Have reach'd this calm and glorious hour,
Whom half a century's pilgrimage
Has taught to bless love's soothing power;—
Have reach'd this calm and glorious hour,
Whom half a century's pilgrimage
Has taught to bless love's soothing power;—
For you, what wish could bard express
Which Providence hath not surpass'd?
May then your well-earn'd happiness
Be pure and cloudless to the last.
Which Providence hath not surpass'd?
May then your well-earn'd happiness
Be pure and cloudless to the last.
205
Since it has been your lot to prove
All that this world can give to please,
Mutual affection, filial love,
And children's children round your knees;—
All that this world can give to please,
Mutual affection, filial love,
And children's children round your knees;—
May consciousness of present bliss
An earnest of your future be;
And holier, happier far than this,
Be heaven's eternal jubilee.
An earnest of your future be;
And holier, happier far than this,
Be heaven's eternal jubilee.
| Poems by Bernard Barton | |