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Revolving on through endless years,
Unmeasured by the lapse of time!
See star by star, a flaming band,
Like Heaven's celestial warriors stand;
View world on world, sun after sun,
Come forth in glory one by one,
Till countless systems thronging rise,
And wrap in radiance all the skies.
Then when the struggling mind in vain
Would grasp the vastness, and in pain
Sinks baffled back to earth again;
Know in this awe-inspiring hour,
The impotence of human power;
And if thy breast ambition nurse

To soar above thy fellows, learn
An atom in a universe-

The dust around thee not to spurn.
See all the littleness of man
Compared with nature's boundless plan.
Yet let thy conscious bosom feel,

While thrilling with a holy pride,
That grandest truth her works reveal!
The deathless spirit purified,

And freed from all that chained it here,
Shall live in fadeless bliss and light,
Transported to some changeless sphere,
When sun and star are quenched in night!
Then if the ills of life have pressed
Upon thy spirit bowed with care,
And sin and sorrow stained thy breast,
Seek humbly consolation there;

With trusting confidence rely

On Him who placed those orbs on high,
Yet stooped from framing worlds above,
To paint the flow'ret on the heath,

And show through all His works beneath,
Unbounded mercy, goodness, love!

And all for man! th' Almighty made
For him the earth, so wondrous bright,
In beauty's every form arrayed,

To glad the heart and please the sight. And would He frame a world like this, And mould material things so fair,

If man alone shut out from bliss,

Were doomed to linger wretched there?

Beside the many fountains found

In all external nature round,

Which, sought for, will the seeker bless, Man has within deep springs of joy, Unnumbered and without alloy,

That yield enduring happiness.

The mind itself-that spark divine,
Enkindled from celestial fires!
Breath of the Godhead! hallowed shrine

Of noble thoughts and vast desires!
Ethereal essence that allies

Our race to beings of the skies!

The mind itself in its own sphere,

Can ever make an Eden here.

On tireless pinions it can soar,

Beyond the bounds of time and space, The mysteries of the stars explore,

And all their hidden wanderings trace; Mount up to other worlds, and pierce The secrets of the universe! With powers expanding in their flight, And quenchless aspirations fond, For something purer and more bright,

It ever seeks some new delight,
Some good yet unattained, beyond.
Its mighty faculties how vast!

How godlike their transcendent power!
With memory to embalm the past,
And render back the parted hour;
With hope beguiling present ill,
And promising enjoyment still;
And fancy that can never rest,

But grasps the future and unknown,

Fills with ideal joys the breast,

And frames creations of its own!

But dearer bliss is found below,
Than even nature can impart,

Or fancy yield, or mind bestow,

The kindling transports of the heart!
When mutual souls together blend,
Together life's allotments share,
Man finds the bosom of a friend
To joy a keener rapture lend,

And even soothe away despair.
'Tis friendship lights our morn of youth,
When all is guileless, full of truth,
That hath a power to assuage

The cares that cling round middle age,
And with its hallowed radiance cheers
The gloom of life's declining years.
Its smiles the darkest night illume,
And smooth the passage to the tomb.

Hail, rapture-giving power, brought

From heaven, with heaven's own essence fraught, Mysterious love, that lights the throne

Of the unseen, eternal One;

Fills every cherub's breast with fire,
And thrills the seraph's golden lyre!
United by thy mystic tie,

True mutual hearts live fondly on,
In bonds of perfect sympathy,

And blend their beings into one.
Then time on tireless pinion flies,
And earth becomes a paradise.

Such are the joys that with their sunshine gild
Our being such the poetry of life;
But 'tis a checkered scene; the world is fill'd
With toil, and sorrow, and contentious strife.
Its trials wait alike the weak and strong;

Its pleasures dazzle e'en the steadiest eyes;
But go in hope to join the changing throng,

Who hopes and strives is sure to win the prize. Our country calls, we haste at her command; But some familiar forms are wanting here— One after one they left our little band,

And we were mourners o'er a classmate's bier! In all the flush of youthful pride they came, The steep of science with ourselves to climb, They dreamed of life, and usefulness and fame, But fell beneath the reaper ere their prime. Yet they are happy in those realms above

Their virtues won, and from their kindred skies Perchance watch o'er us with their wings of love! Green be their graves, and fresh their memories.

And now the parting moment hastens near-
How sad its joy, how mingled with regret,
At rending ties time only made more dear,
And leaving scenes we never can forget!

Fond memory oft shall from its flower-strewn track,

The blissful hours that fleeted here recall, And roaming fancy love to wander back,

And dwell once more within this classic hall. 'Tis sweet to linger! it is hard to part!

And anguish'd feelings in the bosom swell, Sad thoughts too deep for words oppress the heart— Friends of my youth, a long, a last farewell!

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