SONNET.TO HAPPINESS.Oh!I do hail thee, Happiness, when thouDost shine athwart my path with light and love,Dispensing joy, like Heaven's aërial bow,When gathering clouds lour darkly from above.Oh! I do hail thee, Happiness—the aimAnd promise of my being live in thee;I pine for thee as poets pine for fame,Or slaves and captives for their liberty;But fleeting art thou in this vale of strife,A meteor gleaming o'er a desert heath—So seldom comes thy smile to cheer our life,We learn to hope 'twill visit us in death;In what bright bower, supremest blessing, mayA mortal find thy never-dying ray?
Oh!I do hail thee, Happiness, when thouDost shine athwart my path with light and love,Dispensing joy, like Heaven's aërial bow,When gathering clouds lour darkly from above.Oh! I do hail thee, Happiness—the aimAnd promise of my being live in thee;I pine for thee as poets pine for fame,Or slaves and captives for their liberty;But fleeting art thou in this vale of strife,A meteor gleaming o'er a desert heath—So seldom comes thy smile to cheer our life,We learn to hope 'twill visit us in death;In what bright bower, supremest blessing, mayA mortal find thy never-dying ray?
Oh!I do hail thee, Happiness, when thouDost shine athwart my path with light and love,Dispensing joy, like Heaven's aërial bow,When gathering clouds lour darkly from above.Oh! I do hail thee, Happiness—the aimAnd promise of my being live in thee;I pine for thee as poets pine for fame,Or slaves and captives for their liberty;But fleeting art thou in this vale of strife,A meteor gleaming o'er a desert heath—So seldom comes thy smile to cheer our life,We learn to hope 'twill visit us in death;In what bright bower, supremest blessing, mayA mortal find thy never-dying ray?
Oh!I do hail thee, Happiness, when thouDost shine athwart my path with light and love,Dispensing joy, like Heaven's aërial bow,When gathering clouds lour darkly from above.Oh! I do hail thee, Happiness—the aimAnd promise of my being live in thee;I pine for thee as poets pine for fame,Or slaves and captives for their liberty;But fleeting art thou in this vale of strife,A meteor gleaming o'er a desert heath—So seldom comes thy smile to cheer our life,We learn to hope 'twill visit us in death;In what bright bower, supremest blessing, mayA mortal find thy never-dying ray?
Oh!I do hail thee, Happiness, when thou
Dost shine athwart my path with light and love,
Dispensing joy, like Heaven's aërial bow,
When gathering clouds lour darkly from above.
Oh! I do hail thee, Happiness—the aim
And promise of my being live in thee;
I pine for thee as poets pine for fame,
Or slaves and captives for their liberty;
But fleeting art thou in this vale of strife,
A meteor gleaming o'er a desert heath—
So seldom comes thy smile to cheer our life,
We learn to hope 'twill visit us in death;
In what bright bower, supremest blessing, may
A mortal find thy never-dying ray?