O BE thou blest with all that Heaven can send, Long health, long youth, long pleasure and a friend! Not with those toys the female race admire, Riches that vex, and vanities that tire. Not as the world its petty slaves rewards, A youth of frolics, an old age of cards; Fair to no purpose, artful to no end; Young without lovers, old without a friend; A fop their passion, but their prize a sot; Alive, ridiculous,--and dead, forgot! Let joy or ease, let affluence or content, And the gay conscience of a life well spent, Calm every thought, inspirit every grace, Glow in thy heart and smile upon thy face; Let day improve on day, and year on year, Without a pain, a trouble, or a fear; Till death unfelt that tender frame destroy, In some soft dream, or ecstasy of joy; Peaceful sleep out the Sabbath of the tomb, And wake to raptures in a life to come. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 78 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 89, 90. MU'HTI, MANI'H by EDWIN ARNOLD VERSES TO RHYME WITH 'ROSE' (2) by JANE AUSTEN THE IMPROVISATORE: LEOPOLD by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES PSALM 17. EXAUDI DOMINE JUSTITIAM by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE SONGS OF THE SEA CHILDREN: 25 by BLISS CARMAN |