Classic Poem

I.

Say, what is life? A bubble and a dream;
 A bulrush shaken by the northern blast;
The broken surface of a troubled stream;
 A joyless journey in a barren waste:
(Hope's cheating meteor hangs on the extreme,
 Decoys us forward, and misleads at last).
Blessed, I ween, the fav'rite happy sew,
Who get the easiest and the soonest thro'!

II.

Say, what is virtue?—'Tis a faithful friend;
 “A friend that sticketh closer than a brother;”
When life, and time, and vanity shall end,
 Air, earth and water mix with one another;
Virtue (when thou the mighty ruin seest)
Shall harmonize thy soul, and steel thy manly breast,

III.

Say, what is death?—An undisturb'd repose;
 A plowman's siumber, gain'd by daily toil;
The sugar'd settlings of a bitter dose;
 A bubbling fountain in a thirstly soil.