Lines on a New-Born Infant

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h3><SPAN name="LINES_INFANT" id="LINES_INFANT"></SPAN>LINES</h3> <h4>ON A</h4> <h2>NEW-BORN INFANT.<SPAN name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></SPAN><SPAN href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</SPAN></h2> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Like a dew-drop from heaven in the ocean of life,<br/></span> <span class="i2">From the morn's rosy diadem falling,<br/></span> <span class="i0">A stranger as yet to the storms and the strife,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Dear babe, of thy earthly calling!<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Thine eyes have unclosed on this valley of tears;<br/></span> <span class="i2">Hark! that cry is the herald of anguish and woe;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Thy young spirit finds a deep voice for its fears,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Prophetic of all that is passing below.<br/></span> <span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">How short will the term of thy ignorance be!<br/></span> <span class="i2">The winds and the tempests will rise,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And passion will cover with wrecks the calm sea,<br/></span> <span class="i2">On whose surface no shadow now lies.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Unclouded and fair is the morn of thy birth,<br/></span> <span class="i2">The first lovely day in a season of gloom;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Whilst a pilgrim and stranger thou treadest this earth,<br/></span> <span class="i2">May the sunbeams of hope gild thy path to the tomb.<br/></span></div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />