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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MEMORY by ROYALL TYLER

First Line: FORBEAR, MY SOUL THE RECOLLECTION
Last Line: WHEN I SHALL FIND SUBSTANTIAL REST.
Subject(s): MEMORY;

FORBEAR, my soul the recollection
Of woes, thou art too weak to cope; --
Come Mem'ry take a retrospection
Of years that smil'd in joy and hope.

When fancy, through the future roaring
Would to my view sweet scenes pourtray --
Her flight, the flow'ry path exploring,
Where Joy and Pleasure lov'd to stray.

Bright scenes! -- on thee I dwell delighted,
And lose th' remembrance of my woes:
How sweet the thought of you, when blighted
Is ev'ry prospect of repose.

While on life's troubled ocean driven,
By ev'ry gale of fortune tost;
How sweet appears the peaceful haven
I left behind on youth's bright coast.

Yet, what I cherish as a treasure,
Is but the illusion of a dream:
I wake -- and quick dissolves each pleasure,
As dew before the sun's bright beam.

Long, long I've felt thy scourge, O Sorrow!
By all the ills of life depresst:
But HOPE dwells cheerful on that morrow,
When I shall find substantial rest.



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