The colony (11)

Spirit of better daysAm I forsaken?Muse of my former lays,When wilt thou waken?Rouse up thy torpid sense,Dally no longer,Think that such indolenceDaily grows stronger.

Where hast thou fled to—thouMy guardian angel?Why dost thou leave me now,Prey to this strange ill?Oft in the darker hourThy charmful numbersSeemed to possess a powerOver these slumbers.

Spirit of better days,Do thou recall me,Let not these idle waysLonger enthral me.Wake my soul, wake and see,Foes are around thee,Thou on thy guard must be,Lest they confound thee.

Oh! it is sad to seeHours worse than wasted,Dash down the cup from thee,Sweet though it tasted.Wake my soul, oh! my soul,What has come o'er thee?Quickly the moments roll,Fading before thee.

Think how time hurries on,How life is waning,How many years are gone,How few remaining!Is it a noonday restThou art enjoying?Life's dearest, freshest, bestMoments destroying.

What right canst thou obtain,Time thus to squander,Idly in pleasure's trainListless to wander?Life is too brief for stay,In thy pursuingLoiter not on the way—Stand not reviewing.

Plan not, from future hours,Moments to borrow,This day alone is ours—Count not to-morrow.Learn from time past and gone,Use that now going,Say not what has been done—Up and be doing.

Think where thou hast to go—Heed how thou goestHow much thou ought'st to know —How little knowest.Watch well, lest on the way,Passion suffice thee,Ambition lend astray,Pleasure entice thee.

Why should an angry word,Hastily spoken,Be like a brandished sword—Strife's deadly token?Let it pass like the wind,Lightly regarded,Amply by peace of mindThou'lt be rewarded.

Why should we wish the rightPath to abandon?Ambition makes the heightToo steep to stand on.Keep the straightforward course,Steadily, mildly,Nor like a torrent's forceHurry on wildly.

What from wealth can we gainThat is enduring?Pleasure but leads to painBy its alluring.Now onward and upward, thyMotto should be,Looking to Him on highWho died for thee.