ALAS! how many gems of human worth, Bright stars of nature, gifted souls of earth, Have left the orbit of their glorious spheres, Lured by the glowing of some meteor bright, On glitt'ring transit's blaze, to thread the path Where Pleasure's voice was heard, in siren notes Of sweet enchanting strains, that wooed them on To feasts of joy and sparkling banqueting,— Where glowed the wine and whirled the giddy dance, And music soft, entrancing, thrilled the heart;— Where praises soft, delusive, sought the ear Of untaught innocence, in whispers low, And ofttimes led, by flattery's witching spell, The unsuspecting to the snares of sin. Oh, look abroad! behold the tott'ring forms And haggard countenances that meet the eye At every turn of these your city's streets; And while your sympathies inquire why and Wherefore all these sufferings, list the tale Which hundreds of these sorrowing hearts might tell, Formed upright in the image of our God!
