Poems (Ford)/Past and Present

For works with similar titles, see Past and Present.
​
PAST AND PRESENT.
Our hearts go back to the ages fled, As we read some old-time story,And we wish the vanished years would rise, With their hard-won crowns of glory;    That each laureled head,    From its lowly bed, In its genius, might and power,    From the dust might spring,    O'er our days to fling The light of its glorious dower.
Do we pause to think that the hero's way Was one of strife and slaughter?That the rubicon round many a throne Was blood, instead of water?    If we emulate    The departed great, Let them be saints and sages,    Not those who dyed    In life's red tide The shrouds of buried ages.
​
Of old the sceptre, dyed in blood, Instead of gold seemed coral,And victors trod on quivering hearts To grasp the lofty laurel.    Shall we backward turn    And weakly mourn For the days of strife and terror,    When the arm of might    Was the judge of right, And truth itself seemed error?
Fame tells us now of the glorious deeds Of warrior, chief and peasant:If the past has had its great and good Then why should not the present?    The same great God    On sea and sod With boundless love reigns o'er us;    Our hopes and fears    Are like to theirs Who trod life's path before us.
Let us sigh no more for the days renowned In olden song and story,While the present holds before our eyes Bright wreaths of fadeless glory;    Who acts his part    With an earnest heart Upon life's varied stages, ​    Gilds his own days    With a light whose rays Shall shine on the future ages.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.