LIII.

Oh! there are times whose pleasure doth efface

Earth’s vain distinctions! When the storm beats loud,

When the strong towers are tottering to their base,

And the streets rock,—who mingle in the crowd?

—Peasant and chief, the lowly and the proud,

Are in that throng! Yes, life hath many an hour

Which makes us kindred, by one chast’ning bow’d,

And feeling but, as from the storm we cower,

What shrinking weakness feels before unbounded power!