Onward its course the present keeps, And did we judge of time aright, The past and future in their flight Let no one fondly dream again, Fleeting as were the dreams of old, Our lives are rivers, gliding free Thither all earthly pomp and boast The following stanzas of the poem were found in the author's pocket after his death on the field of battle :- O WORLD! So few the years we live, Were life indeed! Alas! thy sorrows fall so fast, Our days are covered o'er with grief, Left desolate of real good, Within this cheerless solitude No pleasures bloom. Thy pilgrimage begins in tears, And ends in bitter doubts and fears, Or dark despair; Midway so many toils appear, That he who lingers longest here Knows most of care. Thy goods are bought with many a grcan, By the hot sweat of toil alone, And weary hearts; Fleet-footed is the approach of woe, But with a lingering step and slow AND now, behold! as at the approach of morning, Through the gross vapours, Mars grows fiery red Down in the west upon the ocean floor, Appeared to me-may I again behold it! And when therefrom I had withdrawn a little Mine eyes, that I might question my conductor, Again I saw it brighter grown and larger. Thereafter, on all sides of it, appeared My master yet had uttered not a word, He cried aloud: "Quick, quick, and bow the knee! Behold the Angel of God! fold up thy hands! Henceforward shalt thou see such officers! See, how he scorns all human arguments, "See, how he holds them, pointed straight to heaven, Fanning the air with the eternal pinions, That do not moult themselves like mortal hair! And then, as nearer and more near us came But down I cast it; and he came to shore Upon the stern stood the Celestial Pilot! "In exitu Israel out of Egypt !" Thus sang they all together in one voice, Then made he sign of holy rood upon them, Whereat all cast themselves upon the shore, And he departed swiftly as he came. THE BIRD AND THE SHIP. FROM THE GERMAN OF MÜLLER. "THE rivers rush into the sea, "The clouds are passing far and high, "I greet thee, bonny boat! Whither or whence, With thy fluttering golden band?”— |