"Aye, and the race is just begun,
The world is all before me now,
The sun is in the eastern sky,
And long the shadows westward lie;
In everything that meets my eye
A splendor and a joy I mind
A glory that is undesigned."
Ah! youth, attempt that path with care,
The shadow of the cross is there.
"I've time," he said, "to rest awhile,
And sip the fragrant wine of life,
My lute to pleasure's halls I'll bring
And while the sun ascends I'll sing,
And all my world without shall ring
Like merry chiming bells that peal
Not half the rapture that they feel."
Alas! he found but tangled moss,
Above the shadow of the cross.