On Revisiting The Scenes Of Earlier Life: Poem by George Dyer

— whom I met in earlier day,
Following, as SCIENCE led the way,
And warmly hail'd a gen'rous name
Glowing with FREEDOM'S sacred flame,
What time, by Cam's slow-gliding stream,
I mus'd at ease the pensive theme;
Or, as in some Aonian Grove,
Where Bards ecstatic lov'd to rove,
I struck, at FANCY'S call, the Classic Lyre,
And felt, or seem'd to feel, some Prophet's holy fire!

We saw no Alps in grandeur climb,
Nor Ocean rous'd to thought sublime,
No Mountain-torrents roll'd around,
Nor Rocks gave out the mystic sound:
Yet clear was Morning's earliest Light,
The Star of Evening mild and bright;
And, lofty on his mid-day throne,
The Sun, in beauty glorious, shone;
Sweet was the Gale that brush'd the wavy field,
And NATURE'S simplest forms could charms unnumber'd yield!

But now no more! — for time has sped,
And many a golden Day-dream fled;
While backward as I turn my eye,
Friends, now no more, awake the sigh;
And, ah, as swift the Rivers glide,
To lose themselves in Ocean's tide;
And, as the Birds forget to sing,
And Trees put off the dress of Spring,
So thou, my Friend, art hast'ning on to death,
And I shall cease from Song, and soon resign my breath!

But, rise some scenes of fresh delight—
Some vision'd bliss still charm my sight;
And, long as aught of Life shall last,
Let some new Day-dream chace the past;
Still fire me, FREEDOM'S ardent throng,
And fill me, soul-enchanting Song;
Still, FRIENDSHIP, deign with me to rest,
And raise your Altar in my Breast!
But, when the nobler Virtues cease to fire,
Oh, thou, ye Visions, close, and Life itself expire!

Analysis of this poem