Classic Poem

BY JACOB W. ELY .

Oh his heart was sad in his early day,
 When the lights of youth around him shone,
And beamed from the brows of the young and gay,
 As tireless time danced gayly on—
But in friendship's throng, when the soul rose high,
And pleasure shone from the sparkling eye,
And the heart breathed forth a warmth and truth,
Which it only feels in the days of youth,
A voice to his heart would coldly say,
‘What dost thou here? away! away!’

Hope led him on, to the fountain bright,
 That flows around love's flowery fane,
Where the heart which once has drunk delight,
 Can never taste its sweets again.
And he long'd to love, but a voice would say,
‘No heart is thine—away! away!’—
And dark was the cloud, that rose to press
On his soul in its utter loneliness;
And a withered heart, and a burning brain,
Might tell he had deeply loved in vain.

He flew to the bowl, the Lethean spring,
 Where weary and joyless spirits quaffed;
And his shout rose high in the reeling ring,
 As he deeply drank and madly laughed:
But a voice soon thundered on his soul,
‘Away, away from the mad'ning bowl—
The light that glances round its brim,
As ye deeply drink, will grow more dim,
And the sparkling draught ye love so well
Will sear the heart, like the blasts of hell'!’

The wanderer woke from a sleepless dream,
 That had bound his soul for many a day,
And friendship's name, and love's soft gleam,
 And the mad'ning bowl, had passed away—
And the voice of Truth , his guardian, spoke:
‘Look forth on the world, the spell is broke—
Look forth, look forth, and thou may'st see
The world in its base deformity—
Though many lights are gleaming there,
Thou know'st how deeply false they are ,’