22.07.2007, 18:55
Recantatory to the preceding
Ah no – enthusiasm’s hour is fled; -
- Society, ! though many a saddening ill
Abides within the circle of thy tread,
Yet fondly do I cling unto thee still.
How could I live estrang’d from all mankind:
How could I bear the desolate remove
From all the sweet communion of the mind –
The Sympathies of friendship, and of love! –
Rebellious Man in every changing scene
Must feel th’ effect of his primeval crime; -
Ah! let him sometimes seek the shade serene,
And sooth his weary soul with thought sublime; -
But ‘tis in social life that he must prove
Trials that fit him for the realms above.
Ah no – enthusiasm’s hour is fled; -
- Society, ! though many a saddening ill
Abides within the circle of thy tread,
Yet fondly do I cling unto thee still.
How could I live estrang’d from all mankind:
How could I bear the desolate remove
From all the sweet communion of the mind –
The Sympathies of friendship, and of love! –
Rebellious Man in every changing scene
Must feel th’ effect of his primeval crime; -
Ah! let him sometimes seek the shade serene,
And sooth his weary soul with thought sublime; -
But ‘tis in social life that he must prove
Trials that fit him for the realms above.