Classic Poem

Death , old fellow! Have we then
Come at last so near each other:
Well, — shake hands; and be to me
A quiet friend, a faithful brother.

All those merry days are gone;
Gone with cash, and health, old fellow!
When I read long days and nights;
And sometimes (with a friend) got mellow.

Newton! Euclid! fine old ghosts!
Noble books of old Greek learning!
Ah! ye left huge aches behind;
Head and heart and brain all burning.

How I toiled! For one, now fled,
I wore down the midnight taper,
Labouring, — dreaming; till one day
I 'woke, and found my life — a vapour.

Yet, I hoped (ah, laugh not now,)
For wealth, and health, and fame, — the bubble!
So I climbed up Wisdom's steeps,
And got a fall, boy, for my trouble.

Now all's over: No one helped,
No one cheered my strong endeavour;
So I sank, and called on thee;
And Thou'lt be my friend, for ever.