Page:Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse.pdf/232

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To you, shall raise the blooming head,
    And ope the fair, unfolding gem.

May each its future path explore,
    Like those pure streams which gently lave,
Unchecked, unstain'd, some verdant shore,
    And join in peace their parent wave.







THE LONGEST DAY.


FROM us, if every fleeting hour
    Improvement's boon may ask,
Surely the longest day may claim
    A long, and arduous task.
But since the longest day must end,
    The fairest life decay,
Let wisdom's hand, and wisdom's voice,
    Direct our youthful way.

And when we rise, let morning's eye
    Convey the lesson sweet,
And e're we sleep, let evening's sigh,
    The sacred rule repeat;