I'm waking now--'twas THEN I dreamed.
I lately saw a sunset sky, And stood enraptured to behold Its varied hues of glorious dye:
First, fleecy clouds of shining gold;These blushing took a rosy hue;Beneath them shone a flood of green;Nor less divine, the glorious blue That smiled above them and between.
I cannot name each lovely shade;I cannot say how bright they shone;But one by one, I saw them fade;And what remained when they were gone?
Dull clouds remained, of sombre hue, And when their borrowed charm was o'er, The azure sky had faded too, That smiled so softly bright before.
So, gilded by the glow of youth, Our varied life looks fair and gay;And so remains the naked truth, When that false light is past away.
Why blame ye, then, my keener sight, That clearly sees a world of woes Through all the haze of golden light That flattering Falsehood round it throws?
When the young mother smiles above The first-born darling of her heart, Her bosom glows with earnest love, While tears of silent transport start.
Fond dreamer! little does she know The anxious toil, the suffering, The blasted hopes, the burning woe, The object of her joy will bring.
Her blinded eyes behold not now What, soon or late, must be his doom;The anguish that will cloud his brow, The bed of death, the dreary tomb.
As little know the youthful pair, In mutual love supremely blest, What weariness, and cold despair, Ere long, will seize the aching breast.
And even should Love and Faith remain, (The greatest blessings life can show,)
Amid adversity and pain, To shine throughout with cheering glow;They do not see how cruel Death Comes on, their loving hearts to part:
One feels not now the gasping breath, The rending of the earth-bound heart,--
The soul's and body's agony, Ere she may sink to her repose.
The sad survivor cannot see The grave above his darling close;Nor how, despairing and alone, He then must wear his life away;And linger, feebly toiling on, And fainting, sink into decay.
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Oh, Youth may listen patiently, While sad Experience tells her tale, But Doubt sits smiling in his eye, For ardent Hope will still prevail!