DAY DREAMS.
We are too apt to denounce as Folly much that belongs to the exquisitely Spiritual and Imaginative, and the highest pleasures of the highest natures may be said to resolve themselves into what are termed by the hard, cold worldling—'day dreams.'"
Day Dreams, loved Day Dreams! still be mine,
Though wise ones mock the dreamer's breast;
Wisdom may press with serpent twine,
Till the crush'd spirit moans for rest.
Though wise ones mock the dreamer's breast;
Wisdom may press with serpent twine,
Till the crush'd spirit moans for rest.
Though air-piled castles may not hold
The wealth that Man so fiercely craves;
Yet, is there no bright stuff but gold?
No mortals rich but Mammon's slaves?
The wealth that Man so fiercely craves;
Yet, is there no bright stuff but gold?
No mortals rich but Mammon's slaves?
We know our brains are oft entranced
By spells that weaken while they bind;
And where our fairy hopes have danced,
Some wither'd rings are left behind.
By spells that weaken while they bind;
And where our fairy hopes have danced,
Some wither'd rings are left behind.
Perchance the pearl we treasure up
As Life's most dear and darling prize,
Falls in some deadly acid cup,
And melts before our weeping eyes.
As Life's most dear and darling prize,
Falls in some deadly acid cup,
And melts before our weeping eyes.
Even Love's torch may sorely scorch—
The fruit we pined for bring the asp;
And Fancy's wand, snatch'd from our hand,
Be broken short in Reason's grasp.
The fruit we pined for bring the asp;
And Fancy's wand, snatch'd from our hand,
Be broken short in Reason's grasp.
Yet who would spurn the starry bloom
That cheers the tangled path we tread;
Because some blight may chance to light
Upon the flowers, and lay them dead?
That cheers the tangled path we tread;
Because some blight may chance to light
Upon the flowers, and lay them dead?
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