Poems (Louisa Blake)/Happier Days
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HAPPIER DAYS.
My weak, ungrateful, murmuring heart,
Whence that oft repeated sigh?
Dost thou weep at fortune's dart,
Weep thy hapless destiny?
Are others' lots more blest than thine?
Do others, murmuring, never say,
On some kind Heaven smiles benign,
And some exist more blest than they?
Whence that oft repeated sigh?
Dost thou weep at fortune's dart,
Weep thy hapless destiny?
Are others' lots more blest than thine?
Do others, murmuring, never say,
On some kind Heaven smiles benign,
And some exist more blest than they?
Look around you;—see the gay,
Noisy in their joyous mirth,
Would you then be such as they?
Their delights are all of earth!
See that bright and beaming face,
Perfect bliss, you say is there;
Yet look again, and you may trace,
Beneath the mask, distress, despair.
​Noisy in their joyous mirth,
Would you then be such as they?
Their delights are all of earth!
See that bright and beaming face,
Perfect bliss, you say is there;
Yet look again, and you may trace,
Beneath the mask, distress, despair.
Yes, the face will often smile,
The boisterous laugh peal loud and high,
And the secret heart the while
Be breaking in its agony;
So the hectic flush appears
Health to the observer's eye,
While 'tis the form disease most wears,
Death's sure, though lovely augury.
The boisterous laugh peal loud and high,
And the secret heart the while
Be breaking in its agony;
So the hectic flush appears
Health to the observer's eye,
While 'tis the form disease most wears,
Death's sure, though lovely augury.
And my heart assents to this,
Feels that others too are sad;
Yet it once was full of bliss,
Once was joyous, once was glad;
Every day for pleasure broke,
Every thing look'd fair and bright;
Fancy's visions only spoke
Of love and friendship's forms of light.
Feels that others too are sad;
Yet it once was full of bliss,
Once was joyous, once was glad;
Every day for pleasure broke,
Every thing look'd fair and bright;
Fancy's visions only spoke
Of love and friendship's forms of light.
They have flown like dreams away,
Lovely dreams that could not last,
Bright the moments of their stay;
Though they pass'd, too quickly pass'd;
Clouds came gathering swiftly on,
And, with threatening portents dread,
Ere a few more sands had run,
Burst on my devoted head.
​Lovely dreams that could not last,
Bright the moments of their stay;
Though they pass'd, too quickly pass'd;
Clouds came gathering swiftly on,
And, with threatening portents dread,
Ere a few more sands had run,
Burst on my devoted head.
Yet, O I can truly say!
I would not exchange the bright,
The sunny hours of life's young day,
Though follow'd e'en by such a night,
For one long day of calm repose;
For there's a lively, heartfelt joy,
Which life's bright dawning only knows,
'Tis perfect, pure, without alloy.
I would not exchange the bright,
The sunny hours of life's young day,
Though follow'd e'en by such a night,
For one long day of calm repose;
For there's a lively, heartfelt joy,
Which life's bright dawning only knows,
'Tis perfect, pure, without alloy.
And even now I may be blest,
Though press'd and bow'd by many a care,
My memory yet shall fondly rest
On scenes in youth so brightly fair;
And though from my deserted heart
Each friend it dearly loved be riven,
We shall be join'd, no more to part,
In yon pure, shining, azure Heaven.
Though press'd and bow'd by many a care,
My memory yet shall fondly rest
On scenes in youth so brightly fair;
And though from my deserted heart
Each friend it dearly loved be riven,
We shall be join'd, no more to part,
In yon pure, shining, azure Heaven.