Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-04-28
ORIGINAL PAPERS
For the Spirit Of the Age.
SCENES IN THE DRAMA OF LIFE
ny RANSOM GULLEy.

BY RANSOM GULLEY.
saw Woman wringing her hands in agon,
and woe,
"hiie tears OF bitter anguish from her bleed
ing heart did flow
She wept aloud, that bitter orv the woods a.,
echo o'er,
And reached my soul with hideous moans 7
hope I'll neer hear more.
OF youth and health a shattered fromo ,ro,
all that now was left,
An emblem OF that happiness which sorrow
has bereft; V"
Her throbblng heart, her heaving breast be-
spoke that death was near.
Whlch soon would carry her from scenes tb -
once TO her was dear. '''"'
asked her grief, for sympathy had risen in
my soul, ~
And she did thus, mid tears of woe, her his
tory unfold: ''''
thought that marriage was the source of
happiness and Joy,
But my partner at the festal board did all biS
time employ;
In vain did admonish him the sparkling cup
And faithfully he pledged his word but d.
the fallen one
Had lost control Of all that's dear ond oCL;u
manly pride ''''
A fagot on the funeral nile Of misorv bo J;o5
had a son. darling boy, the object of my
The only solace of my soul in that dav of
dark despair;
The tendrils OF my inmost heart around the
boy were cast,
More like the fragile ivy, which the stately
oak doth clasp;
but that bright star did mady shoot from
an elysian sphere,
ile aisd aEa the vS victim of vile rum; tbs been
| have but one more hope" she said, 3" and
that can ne'er be riv'n,
'Tis that happy seat for me is now prepared
in Heav'n."
She paused. said, "Ah! this is runs
pernicious sway,
And whosoe'cr doth taste the cup will meet |
fiery day;
His influence may some thoughtless youth
beguile to sin and woe,
And in the gurglng waves of death his soul
to ruin go'
went my way, an aged man bent down with
grief and time,
His hoary locks an emblem fit to grace pure
honor's shrine,
saw; but one glance sought to prove that
rum his soul had driv'n,
Into the gulf of deep, deep despair, without
hope Of IIeav'n.
He said to me MY thoughtful days in vice
were not employd,
But drunken friends beguiled that VOW, and
all my hopes destroyd;
only tasted the vile stuff, it fired my sense
and BRAIN
With spectres dim which fill d my path with
sorrow and with pain
az. - al On nr n mn
Of clay,
Her aching heart in sorrow drownd without
a transient ray
Of hope to light the darkness cast within her
fragile breast,
Or give to her doomed spirit peace, that
brightest star Of rest.
The dolcful cry did echo loud from Ger the
wooded heath
The sisters voice did reach my ears, my
brother sleeps in death,
He died the drunkards fearful DOOM" she
said, in wild despair"
went my way, for | could not refrain from
weeping there.
I saw Brother in distress, his brightest
hopes had fled,
For one both near and dear to him, had join
ed the sleeping dead;
He employed his strongest efforts those feel
lngS 10 control,
Which drown'd his heart in misery, and
harrow'd up his soul;
But all in vain the briny tears did unrelenting
flow;
"The use of Alcohol, he said, has brought
on me this woe,
My only brother, dearer far than life itself
to me,
Has filled drunkard's awful grave, in shame
and misery
heard my couutry's noble voice the land Of
liberty
Where crystal streamlets flow with blood from
mountain into sea,
With laundering tones beSpeak the woe o
Alcoholic reign,
Which with contaminating power our blissfu
homes profane;
"From pole to pole the horrid crimes tina
this vile curse doth cause,
Speaks to the world that it deserves prOhibi
tory laws"
Is man so deaf that he can't hear the thun
der rattling DER him?
Is man so blind that he can't see the gulf O
death before him
The Temperance banner in the breeze upo
the walls of time,
Doth float in grandeur DER the world, majes
tic and sublime,
Let's rally round the elysian shrine wher
honor is engraven,
And holy zephyrs fan the air, the sweet per
fumes of ev'n.
Twas thus heard my country's voice, 'twa
thus her sons addressed;
Throw off the yoke of Alcohol and you wi
then be blessed
These are familiar scenes on life's tea
stained pages, illustrative of the awful col
dtion that ardent spirits enforccs on j
participants; of the anguish they experient
in the hours of disappointment and deaf