ASPIRATIONS.
Could I but write some living thought,
Some truth to never be forgot;
Some pearl of feeling shed in love
That had its origin above,
Or sing a song sublime.
Could I but know their influence sweet
Had helped to make the work complete
Of touching, in some heart's domain,
Chords that shall never pause again
Throughout the bounds of time.
Some truth to never be forgot;
Some pearl of feeling shed in love
That had its origin above,
Or sing a song sublime.
Could I but know their influence sweet
Had helped to make the work complete
Of touching, in some heart's domain,
Chords that shall never pause again
Throughout the bounds of time.
And when this pen with age shall rust,
This hand be summoned dust to dust,
This weary brain forget to think,
And sundered be each golden link
In friendship's jeweled chain,
Then may the dreams of vanished years,
Bathed in the tide of human tears,
Break forth like burning stars,
And guide some wanderer with their light
To sunlit heights again.
This hand be summoned dust to dust,
This weary brain forget to think,
And sundered be each golden link
In friendship's jeweled chain,
Then may the dreams of vanished years,
Bathed in the tide of human tears,
Break forth like burning stars,
And guide some wanderer with their light
To sunlit heights again.
Then gladly would I leave behind
The chains that now my spirit bind;
Then peaceful would my slumber be
Unbroken as a summer sea,
Untroubled by regret.
This would erase life's parting pain,
To know I had not lived in vain;
To know my race was bravely run,
To know my work was truly done
Before my day-star set.
The chains that now my spirit bind;
Then peaceful would my slumber be
Unbroken as a summer sea,
Untroubled by regret.
This would erase life's parting pain,
To know I had not lived in vain;
To know my race was bravely run,
To know my work was truly done
Before my day-star set.
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