Page:Home; or, The unlost paradise (IA homeorunlostpara00palm).pdf/76

From transient disappointments that corrode;
From chafing impulse and oft-crossed desire.
Yet art thou happy as the bounding fawn
That all day long, beside the lonely lake
And 'neath the arches of the forest deep,
Gambols at will, nor knows or want or fear.
Thy griefs abide not; soon the shadows flee
That cross thy path, and sunbeams gild again
Whate'er thine eye beholds, till all the world
For thee in gladness laughs, and sings for joy!
As yet thou canst not know the fretting cares,
The toils and weariness and bodeful fears,
The buffetings with dark misfortune's tide
O'erwhelming when too late for all retrieve.
These wait on ripened years. 'Tis meet that thou,
Dear child, to whom thy ignorance is bliss,
Shouldst drink the cup of innocent delight
Placed at thy lips, nor on the future draw
For aught to check thy heart's exulting play.