Wrapp'd in a cloud, a rainbow o'er thy head; Thy right foot planted, and with thunder-voice To heaven did swear,-that TIME SHOULD BE NO MORE! Elysian race! while o'er their slumbering flocks The Galilean shepherds watch'd, ye came To sing Hosannahs to the heaven-born babe, Oh! weep not that the clouded eye No shining thought can speak; And fresh and fair no longer lie Joy-tints upon the cheek: No! weep not that the ruin-trace Of wasting time is seen, Around the form and in the face, Where beauty's lines have been :— But mourn the INWARD wreck we feel, As blighted years depart, And Time's benumbing fingers steal Young feelings from the heart! Those joyous thoughts that rise and spring From out the buoyant mind, Like summer bees upon the wing, Or echoes on the wind. The hopes that sparkle every hour, Like blossoms from a soul Where Sorrow sheds no blighting power, And Care has no control, With all the rich enchantment thrown On life's fair scene around, As if the world within a zone Of happiness were bound! |