Classic Poem

In my first youth, the feverish thirst for gain
That in this noble land makes life so chill,
Was tempered to a wiser trust by pain,
Hope's early blight, — a chastening sense of ill;
And I was exiled to a sunny clime,
Where cloud and flower a softer meaning caught
From graceful forms and holy wrecks of time,
Appealing all to fond and pensive thought;
Enamored of the Beautiful I grew,
And at her altar pledged my virgin soul, —
O let me here those treasured vows renew,
And thou the service shalt henceforth control;
For in thy graces and thy love sincere
Lives the blest spirit that I yet revere.