TO-MORROW, didst thou say!—— Methought I heard Horatio say, To-morrow. Go to—I will not hear of it—To-morrow! A sharper 'tis, who stakes his penury Against thy plenty—who takes thy ready cash, And pays thee nought but wishes, hopes, and promises, The currency of idiots. Injurious bankrupt, That gulls the easy creditor!—To-morrow! It is a period nowhere to be found In all the hoary registers of time, Unless perchance in the fool's calendar. Wisdom disclaims the word, nor holds society With those who own it. No, my Horatio, 'Tis Fancy's child, and Folly is its father; Wrought of such stuff as dreams are; and baseless As the fantastic visions of the evening. But soft, my friend,—arrest the present moments; For be assur'd, they all are arrant tell-tales; And though their flight be silent, and their path Trackless as the wing'd couriers of the air, They post to Heav'n, and there record thy folly: Because, though station'd on the' important watch, Thou, like a sleeping, faithless sentinel, Didst let them pass unnotic'd, unimprov'd. And know, for that thou slumber'dst on the guard, Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar For every fugitive: and when thou thus Shalt stand impleaded at the high tribunal Of hood-winkt justice, who shall tell thy audit? Then stay the present instant, dear Horatio; Imprint the marks of wisdom on its wings. 'Tis of more worth than kingdoms! far more precious Than all the crimson treasures of life's fountain!—— Oh! let it not elude thy grasp, but, like The good old patriarch upon record, Hold the fleet angel fast until he bless thee. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN A STRANGE CITY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER AN OLD SWEETHEART [OF MINE] by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY THE PORTRAIT by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TO - (1) by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE FUNERAL TREE OF THE SOKOKIS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER PERFECT WOMAN by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |