Page:Poems Ryan.djvu/21

The gayest at the banquet board,
 O'er vanished days may mourn;
And e'en the light exulting heart,
 With secret grief may burn.

Unfathomable the heart's great depths,
 Ourselves we do not know,
 For oscillating to and fro,
 We live twixt joy and woe.
For all on earth must pass away,
 Life's joys bright sunbeams prove;
And things most prized elude our grasp
 Like phantom dreams of love.

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FATHER.

Father, with Thy great love draw me
        Closer to Thee;
And banish from my soul its night
        With truth's great light.
Oh! give my panting spirit rest
        Upon Thy breast,
There let me cling closer to Thee,
        Thy glory see.

For through the changing scenes of life,
        In earth's great strife,
I've fought for Thee and for the right
        With all my might.