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86
Läsebok. iS:o 94.
afflictions as he ought to do, will naturally end in the
removal of them. It makes him easy here, because it can make
him happy hereafter.
Joseph Addison*.
87. A Psalm of Life.
What the heart of the young man said to the Psalmist.
%j O
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
»Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem».
Life is real! life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal:
»Dust thou art, to dust returnest»,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end and way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, — act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’er head!
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time; —
2
* Addison.
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