Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-07-04
., why SHOULD thu Spirit OF Mortal be
PIoudl

tThc f'll"wing poem was a pnrticular favor
lite with Mr.. LIEcOLH. Mr. +. Is. CARfESrER,
the artist. rites that while eRgnRed N ia nt-
ing his picture, at the White II use, he was
alone one evening with the President, in his
r,'om, when he said: There IL poem which
has been n great farorite with me for years.
which Was first shown me when a young man
by fri nd. and which Gfterward saw and
Cut from a ne vspaper and learned it by heart.
would, !" he continued, d" give great deal to
know who wrote il, but have never bsea able
TO sscertain.'l
o. whv should the spirit nf mortal he praud Z
like aswiit d"tling meteor. a fast hviug cloud,
4 fash al the lightning breHk nf the wave,
~ an Issses rT' M lite to his rest in thpgrave.
The leaves of the oak and he willow shall fade
BE scattered around and together be LAID
And the young aud the old, aud the low and
the high,
Shall m0ider 20 dust and together shall die.
The in faut. mother atten ended and loved,
The mother that inisn Aecii"n VIII" prov I'd.
The husband that mother aud infant who
blessed,
Each, all. are away to their dwellings of rest.
The maid nj xhose cheek, on whoss brow, in
whose eve.
Sbo1e beauty and pleasure her iriumphs ar.
by;
A nd the memory of iluse Who loved her and
praised
Are alike ir N the mind. Of the lirirg erased.
The hand otthe King thar the scepter hath borne
The brow Z" the priest that the nn'tre hath worn
The eye Of the sage and the heart 0i the brsTs,
Are hilden aud lost IN the depth at the grave.
FIt IA op.,V l,l Ia, a,,A
The herdsrnan who climbed with his goats up
tbs steep;
The begHar who wandered in search OF his
bread,
Have faded away like the grass that We tread.
The sam. who enjoy ed lie cummuni"n Of hea-
The sinner who dared To rrmain unfnrgiven,
The ~ iSe aud the i""lish. the guilty ami lust,
hayr quietly mingled their bones n the dust
s. the multitude goes, like the flower aud the
weed
That wirhcr away to Ie, Others succeed;
so the NJ nitiiudr comes. even th"se we behold,
To repeat every tale that hath often been told.
For We are the same things our fathers have
been:
We see the same sights our fathers ha We seen
We drink the same stream, and We feel the
same sun,
anu uH tue ea Ilc couI SC thal our IntueTs nave
TDn.
The thoughts we are thinking "ur fathers would
think,
From the death We are shrinking frnm, they too,
would shrink
To the life we are cingng to, they too, woulL
cling;
But it speeds from the earth like bird on the
wing.
They loved. hut their story We ca nnrt unfold:
fhey sctH Gsd, but the heart Of the hauK hty is
cnld
They grirved but no wall from their s,umLsr RI
Will c"Ine
They j. yrd, but the voice uf their gladdness (,
dumb.
They died-ay they died sni we ihinrs that
are h"w
Who wark an the turf that lies over their brnr.
VIII" make in Ihrir dN rIhnps transient al,,,le,
1leeI the changes ihcJ met "u their pilgrimage
road
Yea, hope and dependence, and pleasure aud
pain.
Are mingled t"Retl er in sunshine aud rair;
And The smile aud the tear, the song and the
dirge.
Still follow each other, like surge npon surge.
Tit II, rruk oi Srt aye. 'ris the draurLt If
breath,
From the bloss' IN Of hesllh to the pal ness Of
death.
From the pilded sAloop to the bier aud the
shrud--
9, why should the EpiIitof mortal be proud
WILLIAM KHUI.