The Patowmac Guardian, And Berkeley Advertiser

Contemplation strikes your eye,
Smiles thro' the heart, excites the tender sigh,
And bids us again to banish the expiring year.
"Let the gay youth review this melting page,
And see death certain here in ev'ry age:
Not all the fond nets which a mother knows,
Not all the sweet solicitude she shews,
Can her lov'd offspring for one moment save,
Or snatch that parent from the greedy grave:
In vain we sit and plan for future years,
And talk of distant joys, and hopes, and fears:
Ah! what avails life's most delightful schemes?
One moment proves them idle, empty dreams;
Some sad occurrence, or some long lov'd friend.
Sinks to the grave, and ends the enchantment then.
Witness ye mourners of this present year,
Who still lament what once you held so dear
With what keen pangs we give the last embrace,
How loth to quit the lov'd, tho' lifeless face :
'Tis then we see, in truth's mourning glass,
How vain is life, how swift our moments pass:
With streaming eyes we view the silent tomb,
And deeply feel that death's our certain doom;
Old age and heedless youth, and beauty's charm,
Shrink at the thought, and feel the dread alarm :
Frail nature sinks beneath the awful sound,
And pleasure's self shrinks frightened all around.
No mortal friend the drooping mind can cheer,
No human power, protect that mind from fear :
In union come with energy divine,
To calm the rous'd heart is only thine-:
Teach us that joy serene from virtue flows,
And the true peace which innocence bestows :
Teach us that vice alike in every stage,
Disgraces youth, and damns decrepit age ;
That goodness paints the beauteous face more fair
And stamps true reverence on the hoary hair :
Rise then my soul, to nobler prospects rise,
Let holy, sweet hope, transport us to the skies
Then shall we meet again each valu'd friend.
And all our doubts and all our fears shall end:
Each pain shall vanish. every sorrow fly,
For Heaven's high hand shall wipe the weeping eye.