The Alexandria herald. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1811-1826, 1822-11-15

In proud and accomplishing grief,
He walk'd upon his lonely way;
But have ye marked the yellow leaf,
Consuming on the brok spray
He loved his dying beauty well
To him it had warning tone,
And when its bloom to ruin fell
1t seemed an emblem OF his own.
He loved to watch the setting sun
Go down beneath the crimson west
And wish'd his own career were run,
That he might also be at rest.
He thought the sod would lighter press,
Than life's accumulated woe
He thought the wave Of cold distress,
Perchance would there forget to flow!
There zvas time-what boots is now
On spectres Of the past TO call
For will it cool his burning brow
Or will tgild his spirits pail
But yet there was a Joyous time,
When youthful hope delighted sung,
And DER his bright and golden prime,
The sunny sky offortune hung.
His heart was then in freshest play,
And in its fair unclouded spring;
And blithesome was his roundeIay,
Like that of wild birds on the wing:
oh, for that soul-enchanting song
Which charm'd his boyhood's rosy
hours, 80
When beings current swept along
A shore ofverdure and of flowers
When freely Cow ID life's fountain wave
In waters ofthe purest blue,
And every scene existence gave
Was fresh, was beautiful, wa. new,:
When from the holy fame OF thought
His mind derived supreme delight,
And ev'ry tint that fancy caught
Was fair, and glorious, and bright.
When all creations ample space
Before him spread her bosom fair,
And gratitude would fondly trace
A kind Creators bounty there
When on his grand majestic march
The sun pursued her glad career,
And heaven upreared it's smiling arch,
For days resplcndent charioteer
When midnight spread her milder veil
Upon the soft and dewy sky,
And the fair moon was seen 10 sail
In pensive loneliness on high;
And, followed by the evening star,
( With silver clouds around her curl'd
Danced on the mountain height afar,
Acheering beacon to the world!
When on the mighty thunderstorm,
The bow Of promise bent its span;
like mercy, bending DER the form
Or erring, but repentaht, man
And wreathed his belt around the air,
Where the BACK tempest hung his
shroud,
Glowing in mingled colours there,
The Almighty's banner on the cloud !!
Oh !when his heart was in its prime,
These scenes were reyeIry to him,
Ere the unsparing hand of time
Around them hung his mantle dim
Ere each emotion felt The chill,
The bright, the seattle, the whitening,
The deep and agoniziDg thrill
Ola cold worlds empoisoned sting. :
Ills earthly idols--wiiere are they!-
Avc--let the voice Of memory tell
Sprung there one blessing on his way?-~-
There the untimely mildew fell!
Was there one flower upon his patti,
There the no, blast of ruin blew,
In q! its desolating wrath, sts
10 scar and scorch its bonny hue!
Behold him now 1.-The silve.y frost
Notyet hath fallen on his head
Yet is his every solacc lost
His every hope of pleasure dead
Ard years of pain away mus, roll,
Ere his brow wear the almond tree
Yet wintery age hath chilled his soul
70 iciness--and where is he
Behold him mid the giddy throDg -
Who dance the days Of life away,
an JOY, III revelry and song,
Seeming the gayest OF the gay
Behold him in The courtly hall,
Where pleasure leads her frolic train,
The blnhest at the festival,
Where folly holds her orgies vain
Behold him in bis midnight hour,
When lighter hearts are lost in sleep,
And marx bis struggles with the power
OF anguish too severe 10 weep!
Nor bethat proud deesiil blame