Classic Poem

There is a moment of the darkest wo
When the heart throbs, but cannot find relief;
Our bosoms swell — but not a tear will flow
To yield a channel to this voiceless grief:
A living monument with glazed eye,
Upon the earth is fix'd our vacant stare;
And, if we breathe a wish, it is to die —
In the cold grave to bury all our care,
And slumber undisturb'd by dreams forever there!

Yes! we can yield us to despair like this,
And ask our God to take the life He gave;
In such a moment deem there's nought of bliss,
Save in the bosom of the silent grave!
We've lost our all — " the life of life " is fled;
The form we lov'd to gaze on is no more:
Our hopes are gone — affection's buds are dead —
We care not now — nay, wish that life were past,
That we might dreamless sleep till the last trumpet's blast!

The sun that gilds all nature with his beams,
That gives the summer's warmth and beauty's glow,
To us the herald but of misery seems,
From fancied bliss wakes us to real wo:
Each thing we look on tells us of the past;
A thousand thoughts come rushing o'er the mind
Of life's young morn — how quickly overcast!
Of joys, that fading, left no trace behind —
Of her, the perish'd lov'd-one, to the grave consign'd!

How many hearts, responsive to my strain,
By sad experience feel this picture true;
And live that anguish'd moment o'er again,
When the grave snatch'd forever from their view
A dearer self: — No tear-drop dimm'd the eye —
They did not call in frenzy on her name —
Ah no! they could not weep — they could not sigh!
And the chok'd voice could not an accent frame;
But grief raged in them with consuming flame!

Yet 'tis not long such gloomy thoughts control
Enlighten'd minds — Hope, with her angel-sway,
Shedding rich lustre o'er the darksome soul,
Points to that realm of everlasting day,
Where, when the throbbing heart shall cease to beat,
And the rude warrings of this world are o'er,
Congenial spirits shall in glory meet,
Mid seraph-forms shall meet to part no more,
But in the presence of their God dwell and adore.