Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1885-04-29
on ANoI.n soNa.

Little snatch OF ancient sanv. %
What has made thee live 20 longf
Elt ing on thy WINS OF rhyme
Lightly dOwnthe dep hs OF time,
IeIling nothing str nge or rare.
Scarce Thought or mage there,
Moeeing but the old, Old tale
VI hapess lovers wall;
Offspring Of some idle hour,
whence l1us come thy lasting pOwcrf
BY what turn of rhythm or phrasc,
W what subtle, careless grace q ss
Can thy mus charm our ears
After full three hundred yearsf
Lite song, since thou were born
In the Reformation morn,
How much OF great has passed away,
shattered or ~ slow decay!
8 ately piles In ruins crum m5ied,
LOrdly houses lest or humbled,
Thrones and realms in da rkness hurlsd,
Noble fags forever turled,
Wlsest schemes OF statesmen spun,
Time has seen them, ono by Que,
Like the leaves of autumn fall
A little song Outltved them all.
There were mighty scholars then
With the slow, 1ab0ri0us pen ~
Piling up their words Of earning,
Men OF solid. deep discerni 3,
widely famous as they taught
Systems OF connected thought.
Destined for al failure ages;
Now the cobweb binds tileir pages,
All unread their volumes lie
aouadering 60 peaceahly,
Go@nca theaghte c& oofAned mon;
Neyer'more to stir again sssssssss
In the passion and the strife, z
In the fieeting forms Of life:
AL tnetr force and meaning gone
As the streams of thought dows on.
Art thou weary, little song,
Flying through the world SO loDg2
Can thou on thy fairy ptnions
Cleave the futures dark dominiOns
And with music soft and clear
Charm the yet unfashoned ear,
Mingling with the things unborn
When perchance another morn
Great as that which gave thee birth
Dawns upon the changing earthf
II may be so, for ali around.
With heavy crashing sound,
Like the ice of polar seas
Melting In the summer breeze, ssgas
Signs OF change are grathering fast
Nations breaking with their past.
The pulse of thought is beating quicker,
The lamp Of faith begins to fi!cksr
The anc ent reverence d Gays
With forms and types of other daves
AND old beliefs grow faint and few
As knowledge molds the world anew,
And ecatters far and wide the seeds
Of other hopes and 9th creeds;
And all in vain we seek to trace
The fortunes of the coming race,
Some with fear and sOmc wi hope,
None can cast it's horoscope.
VaporOus lamp or rising star.
Many a light Is seen altar,
And dim shapeless figures loom
All around us in the gloom
Forces that may rise and reign
As the old ideals wane.
Landmarks of the human mind,
One by one are eft behind,
And a subtle change Ii wrought
In the mold and cast of thought,
Modes Of reasoning pass away,
Types Of beauty lose their sway,
Crceds and causes that have mado
Many noble lives, must fade;
And the words that thrilled of old
Now seem hueless. dead. aud cold;
Fancy's rainbow tints are flying.
Thoughts, like men, are slowly dying;
All Things perish, and the strongest
Often do not las the longest;
The at ,tely ship Is seen II more,
j he fragile skif attaiEs the shore;
And Will the great and wise decay,
And all their tro:,hies pass away.
Some sudden thought, some careless rhyme
Still floats above the wrecks OF time.
= W. Z. II Lechev.