Illumine the mantled Earth, and kiss
The meekly murmuring lips of Ocean,
As a mother doth her child.
But now I can feel how Time hath changed
My thoughts within, the prospect round us—
How boyish companions have thinn'd away;
How the sun hath grown cloudier, ray by ray;
How loved scenes of childhood are now estranged;
And the chilling tempests of Care have bound us
Within their icy folds.