Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 2.djvu/30
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
18
That flesh inherits; till at length worn out,This is his consummation!—think again!What, Maiden, canst thou hope from lengthen'd lifeBut lengthen'd sorrow? If protracted long,Till on the bed of death thy feeble limbsOutstretch their languid length, oh think what thoughts,What agonizing woes, in that dread hour,Assail the sinking heart! slow beats the pulse,Dim grows the eye, and clammy drops bedewThe shuddering frame; then in its mightiest force,Mightiest in impotence, the love of lifeSeizes the throbbing heart, the faltering lipsPour out the impious prayer, that fain would changeThe unchangeable's decree, surrounding friendsSob round the sufferer, wet his cheek with tears,And all he loved in life embitters death!
"Such, Maiden, are the pangs that wait the hourOf calmest dissolution! yet weak manDares, in his timid piety, to live;