The short-lived pageant of the summer skies,

Behold it vanish like a fearful dream,

And death and desolation mar its beam.

So when we seek above life's sea of tears

To raise a monument for future years,

If built on earth the fabric will decay,

Oblivion's hand will sweep the pile away;

[Pg 27]

The proudest trophies of the mightiest mind

Fade in her grasp, nor leave a wreck behind;

She o'er earth's ruins spreads her misty pall,

And time's unsparing ocean swallows all;

Hope for a moment gilds the spoiler's shroud,

As parting sunbeams tinge the lurid cloud;

The transient glory cheats the gazer's sight;

The storm rolls on—'tis universal night!

Say did not man inherit, at his birth,

A higher promise than the things of earth;

Views more exalted than this world can give,

And hopes that, deathless as the soul, outlive

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