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96 ODES AND SONGS. |
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23 SONG.
THE DRUNKARD'S GRAVE.
I
SAW a youth in his father's hall, Whose joy-lit eye and aspect gay Show'd a heart yet free from passion's thrall— Light as the billowy ocean's spray :
Generous, virtuous, fair, and brave, Yet he fills a drunkard's grave.
I saw by the midnight taper's gleam,
A tireless student, pensive, pore O'er hist'ry's page, or some noble theme, That poets have sung in classic lore.
Yet the green willow doth o'er him wave: Alas !—he sleeps in the drunkard's grave,
I saw an old man, whose locks were grey, Silver'd by care and the length of years; Unmoved by these signs of speedy decay, And by his children's frequent tears.
Ah ! they may weep, but cannot save That erring man from a drunkard's grave,
The young, the old, and the brave are there, The proud and the humble together sleep ; The father, caught by intemperance' snare; And his son, who once could o'er him weep. The rich—the poor—the free—the slave, Go alike to the drunkard's grave. |
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24 SONG.
THEY SAY THE GOBLET'S CROWNED WITH
FLOWERS
T
HEY say the goblet's crown'd with flowers, And round its brim do brightly shine, Like gems, remember'd joys and hours, The treasures of immortal wine. |
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