Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1827-05-22
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From The .Nep York Literary Gazette.
ANTIQUITY.

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From NE .Ne~ York Literary Ga=eHs.
ANTIQUITY.
Antiquity! thou dark sublime.
Though Mystery wakes thy song,
Tho" da'cless child Of hoary Time,
Thy name shall linger long.
In vain Age bares Distractions ann
To blight thy strength and fame;
Learning still keeps thy emhers warm,
And khdeS them 10 flame.
Nay, Learnings self may turn to dust,
And Ignorance again
Nay leave its gmmeIing lamp to rust;
Antiquity shall reign!
Creations self thy date shall De,
And Earth's aye be as thine;
lhe sun and Moon types of thee,
Nor shall they longer shine.
Though time may DER thy memory leap,
And ruins frowns encroach;
Eternity shall start from sleep
To hear thy near approach.
Though bounds arc for thy station set,
Still, ere thy bounds are past,
Thy Fame with Time shall struggle yet,
And die with Time the last.
When'er walk where thou has, been,
And still art doomed TO be,
Reelection wakens at the scene,
AS at eternity;
q think what days IN millions by
Have bade rise and set,
Ger thy unwearied gazing eye,
And left thee looking yeti
While those that raised thy early fame
With Hopes persis,ing hand,
During as marble left thy name,
And graved their own on sand;
That same sun did its smiles inpar,,
In that same spreading sky,
w hen thou vert left, and here thou AIT,
Like ole that cannot die!
On the first page that time unfIrlcd,
Thy childhood did appear,
And now thy volume is the worl!i,
And thou art--cvery where.
Each leaf is filed with many doom
OF Kingdoms past away,
Where iyrant Power i'll little room
Records its own decay.
THY Roman fame DER England still
Swells many Il lingering scar,
u here CaesaIs led, with conVuerinS skin,
Kheir legons TO war:
And camps aud stations still abide
On many slipping hill:
Though Time hath done its all to hide
Thy presence guards them still.
The moss that crowns the mountain stone,
The grass that green's the plain,
All love to make thy haunts their own,
And with thy steps remain.
And ivy as thy lasting bower,
In gloomy grandeur creeps,
And, careless of life's passing hour,
Its endless summer keeps.
walk with thee my native plains,
AS in nobler cline,
Rapt where thy memory still remains,
Disciple unto Time,
Whose foot in ruins crust'd Powers IA HE
Aud left his print behind,
I'LL RUM weary of its name,
Their fate to thee Iesigu'd
And meath thy care, in mists sublime.
They reign and luger still;
Though ivy finds no wall to climb,
Grass crowns each swelling hill;
Where slumoering Time will often find.
His rebel deeds again,
And turn wandering look behind
To See them still remain.
Thus through the pas, thy name appears.
All hoary and sublime,
tnouried in the grave Of years,
70 ruh its race with time
While some, as sun-heams gid the brock,
Shine till a cloud comes on,
and then, ere Time stride hath took,
lhcs name and all is gone.
Temple and tower of mighty name,
And monumental bust,
Neglect the errands of thcr fame,
Aud mingle with the dust:
Tire clouds Of ruin soon efTAce
What pride hath told in vain;
Eu, still thy genius haunts the place,
And long thy steps remain.
Torn Silence DER their mystery dreams,
And round them Nature blooms
Sad, as May flowers dwelling seems
With solitary tonibs!
Round where their buried memory sleeps
Spring spreads its dewy sky,
III tender mood, as one that wccus
Lies faded majesty.
Time S frost may crumh!c stubborn towers.
Fame once believed is own;
Thou still art rcignug past his powers,
AND Ruin builds thy throne.
When all is past, the very ground
Is sacred unto fhcr;
w hen dust and weeds hide all around.
That dust thy homo shall be.
stsrtuamsoua Department