The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay With Illustrations by John Gilbert |
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| II. |
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| X. |
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| XII. |
THE DREAMS OF YOUTH. |
 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
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THE DREAMS OF YOUTH.
I
Oh! youth's fond dreams, like evening skies,Are tinged with colours bright,
Their cloud-built halls and turrets rise
In lines of lingering light.
Airy, fairy,
In the beam they glow,
As if they'd last
Through every blast
That angry Fate may blow.
But Time wears on with stealthy pace,
And robes of solemn gray,
And in the shadow of her face
The glories fade away.
II
But not in vain the splendours die,For worlds before unseen
Rise on the forehead of the sky,
Unchanging and serene.
Gleaming, streaming,
Through the dark they show
Their lustrous forms
Above the storms
That rend our earth below.
So pass the visions of our Youth,
In Time's advancing shade;
Yet evermore the stars of Truth
Shine brighter when they fade.
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |