Friends! do you see in yon sunset sky,
That cloud of crimson bright?
Soon will its gorgeous colors die
In coming dim twilight;
Een now it fadeth ray by ray
Like it I too shall pass away!
Look on yon fragile summer flower
Yielding its sweet perfume;
Soon shall it have lived out its hour,
Its beauty and its bloom:
Trampled, twill perish in the shade
Alas! as quickly shall I fade.
Mark you yon planet gleaming clear
With steadfast, gentle light,
See, heavy dark clouds hovering near,
Have veiled its radiance bright
As you vainly search that gloomy spot,
Youll look for me and find me not!
Turn now to yonder sparkling stream,
Where silver ripples play;
Dancing within the moons pale beam
Ah! short will be their stay,
They break and die upon the shore
Like them I soon shall be no more!
Yes! emblems meet of my career,
Are ripple, cloud, and flower;
Fated like me to linger here,
But for a brief, bright hour
And then, alas! to yield my place;
And leave, perchance, on earth no trace!
No trace, my friends, save in your hearts,
That pure and sacred shrine
Where, spite lifes thousand cares and arts,
A place shall yet be mine;
And love as deep as that of yore
Though on this earth we meet no more!
