Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1855-08-08
1)octrpp.
Written for the Tribune
THE DREAM.
u Y FLORENCE.

| EIetv beantiltll are dreams / slept; dreamed
/ The world was all before me, and the fate
| OF human beings as they passed through life;
And behold the multitude that passed
On to the verge of dark eternity
| saw, it were reality,
That many groveled in the dust, and made
Riches their God, and hugsed their treasures fast
And night and day they brooded Ger their gold
And watched with anxious eye the gIitterine pile
And scarcely would allow themselves to taste
Or sleep. And so their lives they passed away
Until the grave did yawn beneath their feet
And open to receive its due; and they
Did sink into it, hugging still their gold,
And were forgotten. Others pleasure sought,
And passed their reckless lives in giddy rounds;
And where rose invited there they ran,
Eager with JOY, to pluck its blooming flowers;
But as they pIucked, it withered in their grasp
Its brightest tnts did fade, even at the touch;
And sill they hurried on from flower to flower,
AMI would not learn from sad experience
That each would wther as before, and fade,
But still kept on his weary chase until
Their brightest years We're wasted away, and grief
And sorrow preyed upon their sunken hearts;
Their locks were whitened like the hoary fo-est,
Their cheeks were faded like the blasted leaf,
And age draw them down into the grave,
And they too were forgotten as a dream.
And some did seek and rise in fame, as 'twere
That fate did place the laurels on their brows,
And time did deck their heads with garlands bright
Glory they sought and fame, and all they wished
Was that their names should be renowned, and be
TO future generations handed down.
And many were the ways they sought for fame
Some pondered deep DER books, and peered into
The depths of learning, and the midnight lamp
Did faithful light them on the road to fame;
And they into the depths of science sought,
And laborod DER the learned page, till death
Did come, at midnight watch and found them still
Tracing the lcttered page with eager gaze,
The graue was their reward their bones did rot
And molder in the dust; but still their names
Did live, when they were silent in the grave,
Some sought for fame even at the cannon's mouth ;
The blood of millions dyed their reeking swords,
Destruction followed in their crimson path,
And kingdoms rose and fell at their command
And nations paid them homage, and the blood
OF conquered nations flowed at their command
The earth was dyed as twere with crimson dew
The dead were strewed around as forest leaves,
Where passed the 'shirlwind breath but Yesterday.
The slain were eft to feed the hungry wolf,
The vulture preyed upon the warriors heart,
The stiffened s,eed was for the jackal's prey,
And yet, unsated in their mad career,
Death came upon them in their MONDAY pride;
The reward fell from their reeking bands
And they too, mingled in the crimson dust.
But they were not forgotten, for their names
Did ride upon the winds, and every breeze
Whispered remembrance Of their mighty deeds
Death came on all alike: the rich, the poor,
Kings, princes, beggars sunk into the grave.
The bloom of youth was wtheredlike the flowers
Beauty was blighted like the summer rose
When wintry winds pass DER the blooming field
The infant from the mothers arms was torn,
No mothers tears could call ii back to earth;
Old age, with totering limbs and hoary locks,
White as the driven snow on Alpine hills,
With trembling limbs did sink into the earth,
And all was hushed within the silent grare.