Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns ... By the late Rev. James Hamilton [i.e. J. D. Burns] |
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LINES.
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 | Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns |  |
LINES.
[It is a false and treacherous light]
It is a false and treacherous light
That shines around us here;
The things that glitter in our sight
Are not what they appear!
Honour is but a wandering breath,
And fame is but a gleam;
And all remembrance after death
A shadow and a dream.
That shines around us here;
The things that glitter in our sight
Are not what they appear!
Honour is but a wandering breath,
And fame is but a gleam;
And all remembrance after death
A shadow and a dream.
The happy life for which we task
Our minds from youth to age,
Is nothing but a painted mask
Upon a hollow stage.
And men will urge perpetual strife
With Being's highest laws,
And spurn the o'erhanging Crown of Life,
To rake some paltry straws.
Our minds from youth to age,
Is nothing but a painted mask
Upon a hollow stage.
And men will urge perpetual strife
With Being's highest laws,
And spurn the o'erhanging Crown of Life,
To rake some paltry straws.
How long will men shut out the light
That comes too late in death?
How long so madly walk by sight,
And scorn the voice of Faith?
The shapes that hover'd round our way
Whilst wandering dimly here,
At cockcrow of the eternal day
Shall melt and disappear.
That comes too late in death?
How long so madly walk by sight,
And scorn the voice of Faith?
213
Whilst wandering dimly here,
At cockcrow of the eternal day
Shall melt and disappear.
| Memoir and remains of the Rev. James D. Burns | |