Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-08-20
Like the shadowy dream
Ofthings ETHEREAL"


mind
/" Like the ~shadowy dream
0fthings ETHEREAL"
From first to last tits a painful mystery,
and yet in its weary way there are golden
hours. Like The passing shadow of a cloud,
childhood hours are borne away mid the
revelry of sweet enjoyments. IT'S here we
love to linger, and pluck the flowers that
bloom and glisten with radiance in the morn
ing light, and listen to the song 0 fsyren Hope,
as she sings from her fairy bower, the en-
chanting ainofheavenly bliss. Led stead
lily on, the mind becomes entraneed with 10y,
soon lost in wild pursuit Of fancy's object,
and with breathless nterestcountless schemes
are formed. results oyertaken, and fabric
piled on fabric, are built in air, to load the
nind awhile and vanish.
Driftingon the stream Of time, the smooth,
the CLASSY surface is all we see, regardless
of its rocky shores, needless of its onward
progress. Anon, a change takes place, and
q new scene opens upon the view. The en-.
ergy Of manhood has taken the place of
bdAAiiS VI Joueh-S lhAd IOIun5 etAS
effeminsey Of younger years. with it, how
changed each thought and feeling, while
"O'er the bright dream Of youthful days
Steals the spirit of reality"
And the spell of love enchants US, we pause
enraptured, yet by what we cannot tell we
rove through the elysium paradise Of earth,
unmindful of the knell Of time, we gaze with
frenzied interest on our object, we dwell with
rapture ON the s~oul-inspiring theme, timid
yet bold, powerful yet weak, clear-sighted
yet bewildered, now cheerful, now sorrowful,
! what hope, what burning love, what fond de-
t sire, and alas! too often, how gloomy is the
: end.
$ Now we see the man of business grasping,
grasplng-his only thought is gain. At the
dawn Of morning he calculates the chances
e Of the days success, onward he strives, and
e as the sable curtain ofnight is drawn around
It him when the busy turmoil of the day = is
hushed, before his eyes are closed in sleep,
$ he breathes a prayer for gain. Man has be-
st come . miser. Yet seldom does be think
II MM 0eting the years ofFfSare, and of the
Z. s5l, '9s z 77i zssSi:s 4 "a ~. T ID, s5 j, is s,s t,
is ers to enjoy, ,Twere1 MeM to seek wealth
of more lasting. Turn/we from the monoton,
ur of business to a cheerful scene. The charm
nd of Friendship does while away the many glad
some hours. IT'S a soothing balm for disap
ID pointment, and here with hearts softened b
- 80 \
a aSsa'5| y 575sTS IN Z6y &c., s.5 a' snt Y,
! call the lofty aspirations, the extravagar
= schemes, and predicted results of boyhoo
:. hours, now
81 " Glinmeringthro the dream of things that were
is The scenes, the ever changing scenes of lif
Ike are not unlike the rainbow hues now brigh
Ter now dark, and then again a warm %exultiE
cir glow, fringed bya broad band of chilly blac
no ness. Arch-like it bears a heavy weight
the woe and trouble, nor bends beneath its loa
viii Of worldly care.
Ter. The first mystery of life begins at brit
ard and the deep toned bell of death peals
and solemn knell DER the last bed of sickness,
re- misery, and ushers in the winding sheet al
rec the cold damp grave; here see we now
an. end in death, while the pail of mystery G
shrouds the closing scene.