OH! why should we linger on earth, when have fled The charms which once made it so bright; When Truth, Love, and Friendship together lie dead, And hope spreads her wings to take flight! Earth's fairest flowers long cannot last, Their fragrance soon passes away; And Youth's sunny hours are still quicker past, 'Neath Time's withering breath of decay! How few are the moments of joy I have known, How many the tears I have shed! How few are the sunbeams that o'er me have shone, How swiftly their brightness has fled! Lonely and sad I wander through Earth, Forgetfulness all that I crave; How forced is my laughter—how hollow my mirth— I seek but the rest of the grave! Then, welcome, oh Death! thy touch has no sting; The happy alone fear thy clasp; To the weary on earth thou comfort dost bring, There's release from all ills in thy grasp! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VISION OF BELSHAZZAR by GEORGE GORDON BYRON A MOTHER TO HER SICK CHILD by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 54 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN AN EPIGRAM ON SCOLDING by JONATHAN SWIFT A NEW BIRTH by EDMUND JOHN ARMSTRONG TO-NIGHT ACROSS THE SEA by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: TO THE QUEEN OF SERPENTS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |