THREE ASPECTS OF NATURE.
"Thy outward shape is still the same,
Thy hues as vivid as of yore,
Thy skies as bright, thy fields as green,
Thy waves as sparkling on the shore.
"But not to me, O Nature, smiles
With equal joy thy varied face;
A darkness o'er the scene has come,
And dimmed its glory and its grace.
"In vain I seek in sunny skies
The brighter sunshine of the breast;
In vain I ask the peaceful stars
Where Peace hath built her halcyon nest
"To me their lustre only brings
A vision of those vanished days
When the pure flame that burned within
Robed all without in purple rays.
"Oh, golden promise of life's morn!
Oh, happy days of hope and youth
When Virtue first her shape revealed,
And first I sought the face of truth I"
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