To hold the right and crush the wrong;
Ere youth, in manhood’s struggling throng,
Had half pursued his way:
Thought premature, that still denied
The boy’s exulting sports—the pride,
That, with the blood’s unconscious tide,
Knew but to shout and play!
Youth, that in love’s first gush was taught
To see his fresh affection brought
To tears, and wo, and death—