The phantoms have flown which I cherished;
The dreams which delighted have passed;
My castles in air have all perished—
I grieved o’er the fall of the last.
‘Twas bright, but as frail as a shadow;
It passed like a vapor away—
As the mist which hangs over the meadow
Dissolves in the sun’s burning ray.
The joys of my youth are all shattered;
My hopes lie in wrecks on the shore;
The friends of my childhood are scattered;
Their faces I’ll see never more.
Some are estranged, some have gone under;
The battle of life is severe.
When I stand by their graves, the wonder,
The mystery, seems to be clear:
They were vet’rans more noble than I;
And placed in the van of the fight,
They fell where the hero would die,
When he bleeds for truth and the right.
The battle of life is proceeding—
The rear will advance to the van;
I’ll follow where duty is leading,
And fall at my post like a man.
(David John Scott)
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