45
AN APPEAL TO THE FACULTY
While griefs relentless heavy press,
And sorrow's icy chilliness
Consigns to weary woe and pain,
A hapless sufferer sighs in vain
For sweet relief and balmy rest,
To soothe the tortures of the breast,
And calm the fever of the brain,
Where agonizing tumults reign.
For every pleasing vision flies,
And sleep is banished from the eyes;
That weary, watching, still and still,
See naught but long-protracted ill,
And horror's train of dismal shapes;
While naught the trembling glance escapes
Of Misery's dread, appalling power,
That constantly usurps the hour,
And marks the minutes as they flow
With the dire impress of her woe.
In vain the blessings of relief
Are sought; in vain the child of grief
Seeks aid from drugs that nature boasts,
Amid disease's powerful hosts,
The weary eyes in sleep can close,
And yield the wretched calm repose;—
And pour the sweetly healing balm,
That can imperious pain disarm.
And sorrow's icy chilliness
Consigns to weary woe and pain,
A hapless sufferer sighs in vain
For sweet relief and balmy rest,
To soothe the tortures of the breast,
And calm the fever of the brain,
Where agonizing tumults reign.
For every pleasing vision flies,
And sleep is banished from the eyes;
That weary, watching, still and still,
See naught but long-protracted ill,
And horror's train of dismal shapes;
While naught the trembling glance escapes
Of Misery's dread, appalling power,
That constantly usurps the hour,
And marks the minutes as they flow
With the dire impress of her woe.
In vain the blessings of relief
Are sought; in vain the child of grief
Seeks aid from drugs that nature boasts,
Amid disease's powerful hosts,
The weary eyes in sleep can close,
And yield the wretched calm repose;—
And pour the sweetly healing balm,
That can imperious pain disarm.
