ALL things around us preach of Death; yet Mirth Swells the vain heart, darts from the careless eye, As if we were created ne'er to die, And had our everlasting home on earth! All things around us preach of death:—the leaves Drop from the forests—perish the bright flowers— Shortens the day's shorn sunlight, hours on hours— And o'er bleak sterile fields the wild wind grieves. Yes! all things preach of death—we are born to die: We are but waves along Time's ocean driven; Life is to us a brief probation given, To fit us for a dread Eternity. Hear ye that watch with Faith's unslumbering eye?— Earth is our pilgrimage, our home is Heaven! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CAVALIER TUNES: MARCHING ALONG by ROBERT BROWNING PRE-EXISTENCE by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE HAILSTORM IN MAY by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS INSCRIPTIONS: 3 by MARK AKENSIDE OUR BIRTH-CORD by KOFI ANYIDOHO TO GEORGE CRUIKSHANK, ESQ., ON SEEING HIS PICTURE ... by MATTHEW ARNOLD |