The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1869-08-20
I Might Have Been.

l Might Have Been.
A couple were walking slowly up Broad
way ohe evening engaged in earnest con-
verse. One of them in the prime of man
hood, with free step and an unbroken spirit.
The other was somewhat older in years
and good deal older in heart. Just as we
passed we caught the words, "I might
have BEEN The Jar of wheels drowned
the rest, but it was enough for a song or a
sermon-that ~ might have been.''
81 shall be, and 81 might have been p
The former the music of youth, sweet as
the sound of bells, fresh as
''The breezy call of incense breathing morn.''
The latter the plant of age, the dirge Of
hope. the inscription for tomb. The one
trembles upon thin pale lips, parched with
"lile's ftful fever - the other swells from
strong young hearts 10 lips rounded and
dewy, with the sweetness of hope and the
fulness of strength.
Il shall be- and 81 might have been -
What toll, what trouble, time and tears
are recorded in those little words-the very
stenography of life. How like bugle call
is that Il shall be- from the young soul.
strong in prophecy-'I shall be great, hon
ored, affluent and good"
81 shall be- whispers the glad girl to
herself, as. with one foot upon the thresh-
hold of womanhood. she catches the breath
from the summer field Of lfe-'I shall be
--loved by and by !' That is her aspira-
ton for to be loved is 20 be happy.
81 shall be- says the struggling boy i;
IL shall be the possessor of little home of
my own, little wife some day, and the
house shall be ours, aud the wife shall be
mine, ard then'-who can fill out these
"thens ?"-who but the painter has dipped
his pen in sunset ?-who but the poet whose
lips have been touched with a coral fresh
from the altar of inspiration?
Il shall be-v:etorious yet" murmurs
the man in the middle watch, who has been
battling foes till nightfall. and is praying,
like the Greek, for dawn again, that che
might see to fight
Il shall be,' family breathes the invalid
upon her couch of paiu-"I shall be better
tomorrow or next day - and she lives on
because she hopes on, and she grows strong
with the "shall be- she has uttered.
Aud the strong armed man who has
"fought the good fight" and has "kept the
faith" when shey that sustained his ex-
tended hands through the battle are depart
ing, and no Joshua to bid the declining sun
to "stand still," as he looks beyond the
rugged hills of the world, and sees a win
dow opened in heaven, and wounded hand
put forth in welcome. he lays aside the ar
NOR he has worn so long and well. and 60
ing down into the dark river, he utters, with
a hope gorifed to faith, 81 shall be over
Jordon Tomorrow"
Before the memory has tomb in it-be-
fore it becomes the cemetery of the soul
Il shall be" is as beautiful as an old bal
lad when graves are digged therein, and
willows are planted. and hopes are buried,
and no light breaks out of the cloud, then
'I shall be- is as grand as an old Pean
when
The battle is done, the harp is unstrung,
It's music trembling dying.
Then Il shall be- is as sublime as an old
prophecy.
But there is another tense in this gram
mar of life it were well to remember; the
sparkling moment that dances on from the
ripening hours, like golden grain beneath
the fails of time. as we write, is gathered
into the garner of the past. There is taught
in connection with it, lesson which it
p h. ~
''Trust future, however pleasant
Let the dead ast bury its dead,
And act in the living Present
Heart Within and God o'erhead 70