Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-07-23
THE FLOOD OF YEARS.
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

e. IN before them On their foremost e1ge,
And there alone, is Life; the Present mere
Tosses and foams, and fills the air with roar
m noInoled noises. There are they who toll,
And they who starve, and they who feast, and
who bnrTyy IN and fro. The sturdy hand
Woodsman and deliver with the spade-are
And bnsy artisan beside his bench,
And DaIiid student with his written roll
a moment on the mounting pillows seen
The Hood sweeps over them, and they are
There groups OF jewellers, whose brows are
twined
With roses, ride the topmost swells awhile,
And as they raise their flowing cups, 70 toucu
The clinking brim TO brtmi are whlrled De-
The waves and disappear. / hear the Jar
or beaten drums, and thunders that oreaS
From cannon, where the advancing billow
lin to the sight long files of armed men,
That hurry TO the charge through flame anu
The current bears them under, whelmeds and
SLAYER and slain, in heaps of bloody foam.
Down go the steed and rider; the plunled
chief 80, $500
sinks with his followers; the head that wears
The Imperial diadem goes down DeslIe
The felon's with cropped ear and branded
A funeral train-the torrent sweeps away
bearers and biers and mourners. by the Oeu
OF one who dies men gather soTI9 9 Viz
And women weep aloud; the flood rolls on;
Hae vail is stified, and the sobbing group
horne under. Hank to that shrill, sudden
The cry Of an appIauding multitude
sWayed by some loud-tongued orator who
The living mass. as If he were its soul.
The waters choke the shout and all is still.
Lo, next, a kneeling crowd and one who
The hands in prayer; the engulhng wave
And Swallows them and him. A sculptor
yields
To beauty; at his easel, eagle-eyed,
A painfeT STANDS, and sunshine. at his touch,
G+ther' upon the cen a. vas vas; am an Lie sio"S'
MurmuIs his sounding lines A"hlle 'neS
ride ., .4
Strikes them and filings them under Whlie
their tasks
Are vet diminished. See mother smile
on her young babe that smiles 10 her again
The torrent wrests it from her arms; she
And weeps, and midst her tears is carried
A beam like that of moonlight turns the
To giistenning pearls; two lovers, hand in
Rise on the biIlowy swell and fondly look
Iuto each others eyes. The rushing noOd
Filings them apart; the youth goes down; the
With hands outOtretched in vain and stream
ing eyes,
An aged man succeeds; his bending form
Sinks slowly; mtngling with the sullen stream
| Clean the white locks and then are seen no
Io, wider grows the stream; a sea-like flood
| Saps earth's walled cities; massive palaces
| Crumble before it; tortresses and towers
Dissolve in the swift waters; populous realms,
| Swept by the torrent, see their ancient tribes
Engulfed and lost, their very languages
| Stified and never to be uttered more.
| pause and turn my eyes and, LOOKING oacK
| Where that tumultuous flood has passed, see
! The silent Ocean of the Past, waste
| OF waters welterihg over graves, us SHORES -,
| Strewn with the wreck of fleets, where mas'
Drop away piecemeal; battlemented walls,
Frown idly, green with moss, and temples
| Unroofed, forsaken by the worshipers.
| There lie memorial stones, whence time MAJ
The craven legends, thrones of kings DER
turned,
The broken affairs of forgotten gods,
| Foundations of old cities and long streets
| Where never fall of human foot is heard
| Upon the desolate pavement. behold
Dim glimmerings OF lost jewels lar Wlthln
| The sleeping waters, diamond, sardonyX,
| Ruby and topaz, pearl and chrysonte,
| Once glittering at the banquet on fair broWs
| Strewn on the waters of that silent sea,
Are whitening bridal wreaths, and glossl
| locks
| ShOrn from fair broWS Dy loving nanOsI ant
o'erwritten- haply with fond words of love
| And vows of friendship-and fair pages hum
| Fresh from the printers engine. There the.
A moment and then sink away from sight.
l look and the quick tears are in my eyes,
For L behold, in every one of these,
| A blighted hope, a separate history
| of human sorrow, telling of dear ties
Suddenly broken, dreams OF happiness
Dissolved in air, and happy days, TOO br1ei,
That sorroWfully ended, and think
How painfully must the poor heart nave pea
IL bosoms without number as the bIoW -,
! ctr rot
| peace.
Sadly turn, and look before, where yet
The Flood must pass, and behold mist
| Divinely fair, that rests on banks of flowers
| Or wander among rainbowS, fading soon
| And reappearing, haply giving place
| To shapes of grisly aspect such as Fear 49,
| Mods from the idle air; where serpents lii
The head to strike, and skeletons stfetc
The bony arm in menace. Further on
A belt OF darkness seems to bar the way,
| Long. low and distant, where the Life that !
Touches the Life to Come. The Flood G
Rolls toward it near and nearer. II must pas
| That dismal barrier. What is there beyond
Hear VIII at the wise and good have said: be
That belt of darkness still the years roll on
| More gently, but with no less mighty SWEEP
| They gather up again and softly o. ar
Ali the sweet lives that late were over
| whelmed
And lost to sight-all that in them was good
Noble, and truly great and worthy OF love-
| The lives of infants and ingenious youths,
Sages and sanity women, who have made
Their households happy-all are raised an
| borne
By that gr, at current in its onward sweep,
| Wandering and ripping with caress1n
| waves - ,
Around green islands. fragrant with tn
| breath
or flowers that never wither. So they pass,
| From stage to stage, along the shining cours
| OF that fair river broadening like sea.
| As its smooth eddies curl along their way,
They bring old friends together; hands al
| claSped
| In joy unspeakable; the mothers arms
| Again are folded round the child she loved
And lost. Old sorrows are forgotten now
| Or but remembered to make sweet the hour
That overpays them; wounded hearts tina
| bled
Or broke are healed forever. In the room
| OF this grief-shadOwed Present there shall
| A Present in whose reign no grief shall gna'
| The heart, and never shall tender tie
Be broken-in whose reign the eternal Chang
| That waits on growth and action snail pc
| coed
| With everlasting Conc ord hand in hand,