Of ills, we mention not; enough to say,
'Twas cold, and dead, impenetrable gloom.
He saw its dark approach; and saw his hopes,
One after one, put out, as nearer still
It drew his soul; but fainted not at first;
Fainted not soon. He knew the lot of man
Was trouble, and prepared to bear the worst;
Endure whate'er should come, without a sigh
Endure, and drink, even to the very dregs,
The bitterest cup that Time could measure out;
And, having done, look up, and ask for more.
"He called Philosophy, and with his heart
Reasoned; he called Religion, too, but called
Reluctantly, and therefore was not heard.
Ashamed to be o'ermatched by earthly woes,
He sought, and sought with eyes that dimmed
To find some avenue to light, some place
On which to rest a hope; but sought in vain.
Darker, and darker still, the darkness grew.
At length, he sunk, and Disappointment stood
His only comforter, and mournfully
Told all was past. His interest in life,
In being, ceased; and now he seemed to feel,
And shuddered as he felt, his powers of mind
Decaying in the spring-time of his day;
The vigorous, weak became; the clear, obscure;
Memory gave up her charge; Decision reeled;
And from her flight Fancy returned-returned
Because she found no nourishment abroad.
The blue heavens withered; and the moon, and sun,
And all the stars, and the green earth, and morn And evening, withered; and the eyes, and smiles, And faces of all men and women, withered; Withered to him; and all the universe,
Like something which had been, appeared; but
Was dead, and moldering fast away. He tried
No more to hope; wished to forget his vow;
Wished to forget his harp; then ceased to wish.
That was his last. Enjoyment now was done.
He had no hope; no wish; and scarce a fear.
Of being sensible, and sensible
Of loss, he as some atom seemed, which God
Had made superfluously, and needed not
To build creation with; but back again
To Nothing threw, and left it in the void,
With everlasting sense that once it was.
"Oh! who can tell what days, what nights he spent,
Of tideless, waveless, sailless, shoreless wo!
And who can tell how many, glorious once,
To others and themselves of promise full,
Conducted to this pass of human thought,
This wilderness of intellectual death,
Wasted and pined, and vanished from the earth,
Leaving no vestige of memorial there!
"It was not so with him: when thus he lay,
Forlorn of heart, withered and desolate,
As leaf of Autumn, which the wolfish winds,
Selecting from its falling sisters, chase
Far from its native grove, to lifeless wastes,
And leave it there alone, to be forgotten
Eternally, God passed in mercy by
His praise be ever new!-and on him breathed,
And bade him live; and put into his hands
A holy harp, into his lips a song,
That rolled its numbers down the tide of Time.
Ambitious now but little to be praised
Of men alone; ambitious most to be
Approved of God, the Judge of all; and have
His name recorded in the book of life.
"Such things were Disappointment and Remorse; And oft united both, as friends severe,
To teach men wisdom; but the fool, untaught,
Was foolish still. His ear he stopped; his eyes
He shut; and blindly, deadly obstinate,
Forced desperately his way from wo to wo."
"One place, one only place, there was on earth, Where no man e'er was fool, however mad. 'Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die.' Ah! 'twas a truth most true; and sung in Time, And to the sons of men, by one well known On earth for lofty verse and lofty sense.
Much hast thou seen, fair youth, much heard; but thou
Hast never seen a death-bed, never heard
A dying groan. Men saw it often; 'twas sad,
To all most sorrowful and sad; to guilt
'Twas anguish, terror, darkness without bow.
But, oh! it had a most convincing tongue,
A potent oratory, that secured
Most mute attention; and it spoke the truth
So boldly, plainly, perfectly distinct,
That none the meaning could mistake or doubt;
And had withal a disenchanting power,
A most omnipotent and wondrous power,
Which in a moment broke, for ever broke,
And utterly dissolved the charms, and spells,
And cunning sorceries of earth and hell.
And thus it spoke to him who ghastly lay,
And struggled for another breath: 'Earth's cup
Is poisoned; her renown, most infamous;
Her gold, seem as it may, is really dust;
Her titles, slanderous names; her praise, reproach;
Her strength, an idiot's boast; her wisdom, blind;
Her gain, eternal loss; her hope, a dream;
Her love, her friendship, enmity with God;
Her promises, a lie; her smile, a harlot's;
Her beauty, paint, and rotten within; her pleasures,
Deadly assassins masked; her laughter, grief;
Her breasts, the sting of Death; her total sum,
Her all, most utter vanity; and all
Her lovers mad, insane most grievously,
And most insane, because they know it not.'
"Thus did the mighty reasoner, Death, declare;
And volumes more; and in one word confirmed
The Bible whole: Eternity is all.
But few spectators, few believed, of those
Who staid behind. The wisest, best of men,
Believed not to the letter full; but turned,
And on the world looked forth, as if they thought
The well-trimmed hypocrite had something still
Of inward worth; the dying man alone
Gave faithful audience, and the words of Death
To the last jot believed; believed and felt;
But oft, alas! believed and felt too late.”
“And had earth, then, no joys, no native sweets, No happiness, that one who spoke the truth Might call her own?"
"She had; true, native sweets!
Indigenous delights, which up the Tree,
Of Holiness, embracing as they grew,
Ascended, and bore fruit of heavenly taste;
In pleasant memory held, and talked of oft,
By yonder saints, who walk the golden streets
Of New Jerusalem, and compass round
The throne, with nearest vision blessed. Of these
Hereafter thou shalt hear, delighted hear;
One page of beauty in the life of man."
|