 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
53
Ah! Will there a Time Come.
1824.
Ah! will there a time come, when coldly above me
The earth of the valley I tread shall be laid;
When the tears of the few that now cling to and love me,
Unheeded shall fall—like the dew in the shade?
The earth of the valley I tread shall be laid;
When the tears of the few that now cling to and love me,
Unheeded shall fall—like the dew in the shade?
When each charm, and each change, and each scene it delights me
To note and remember, to me shall be o'er;
When all that to song or to musing invites me,
To musing or song shall invite me no more?
To note and remember, to me shall be o'er;
When all that to song or to musing invites me,
To musing or song shall invite me no more?
When rainbows o'er green, gleaming landscapes shall brighten,
And melody warble from grove and from sky;
When tempests shall howl, or grim thunder-clouds lighten,
And my breast give no throb, and no sparkle my eye?
And melody warble from grove and from sky;
When tempests shall howl, or grim thunder-clouds lighten,
And my breast give no throb, and no sparkle my eye?
When Springs shall refreshen the hues of the mountain,
And Summers begem with young blossoms the lea;
And Autumns with red leaves bestrew the chill fountain,
And white winters dazzle—unwitnessed by me?
And Summers begem with young blossoms the lea;
And Autumns with red leaves bestrew the chill fountain,
And white winters dazzle—unwitnessed by me?
So be it! if, borne on the bright stream of ages,
The wreath I have gathered, its freshness retain,—
Nor sink, till the chaplets of bards and of sages
Alike shall be lost in Eternity's main!
The wreath I have gathered, its freshness retain,—
Nor sink, till the chaplets of bards and of sages
Alike shall be lost in Eternity's main!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Story | |