“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity!"-
Eccl. 1: 2.
YES, it may sparkle, the festive bowl,
The song of the minstrel sound;
The smiles of beauty bewitch the soul,
And her eyes beam bliss around:
These joys I followed in youth's gay hours;
I sought to gather the choicest flowers,
Of every clime and sky:
Soon as they bloomed their freshness wasted;
The cups were dry as soon as tasted:
'T was Vanity! all Vanity!
The laurel wreath may gird the brow;
But withers even there;
Though it shine with fame and honor now,
'T will be furrowed soon with care:
The monarch's crown may now dazzling gleam,
With the pearl, and the diamond's mingled beam,
Like stars in the cloudless sky;
But it cannot shield from shafts of woe,
It cannot guard from the last great foe:
'T is Vanity! all Vanity!
The poet may strike his golden lyre,
And the nations enraptured stand;
But age soon quenches the poet's fire,
And palsies the minstrel's hand:
And fame at best is a fleeting breath,
Its voice unheard in the vaults of death;
A meteor, it passes by:
How mad to value a thing so frail,
Fickle, and false as the summer's gale!
'T is Vanity! all Vanity!
Thou joyest now with thy bride of youth,
Her beauty and charms delight;
Her fervent love, and her plighted truth,
Make thy happy home shine bright:
This joy I 've tasted,-the sweetest one
That 's left for mortals beneath the suu:-
But thy bride may pine and die;
“The light of thine eyes" be laid in the tomb,
The close of thy life be a night of gloom:
'T is Vanity! all Vanity!
Children may gladden thy fireside now,
With their sunny mirth and glee;
The blooming cheek, and the open brow,
Promise years of joy to thee:
But the sweetest bud may first decay,
The loveliest flower first fade away,
'Neath this world's inclement sky:
Heartless neglect may thy love repay,
When thy strength is spent, and hair is gray:
'T is Vanity! all Vanity!
A voice is heard from th' ivory throne
Of Israel's wisest king,
Who had fully proved, and sought, and known,
The worth of each earthly thing:
“I've quaffed the juice of the choicest vine;
Houses, and gardens, and fields were mine:
And who with the king can vie?
Silver and gold, and the sparkling gem,
I made as stones in Jerusalem,-
'T is Vanity! all Vanity!”
“I gave to my eyes their least desire,
Nor withheld one joy of heart;
Music and song, and the minstrel's fire,
And treasures of skill and art:
Wisdom and madness, folly and mirth,
All good that 's sought for by man on earth,
I gave up my soul to try.
Who can do more than the king has done?
I know all the good that 's beneath the sun:
'T is Vanity! all Vanity!”
Is there, then, nothing here below
To fill the mortal mind?
Can it only drink of the cup of woe,
And illusions and ciphers, find
The bubble’s sparkle, the meteors gleam,
The lightning’s flash, and the morning dream,
And the breeze’s fitful sigh:
Are these the types of all we cherish?
Must all we toil and hope for perish?
All Vanity? all Vanity?
The King of Israel speaks again,
His warnings of wisdom done,
To turn our eyes from this world of pain,
To the regions above the sun:
The preacher was wise; his words were truth;
His proverbs many for age and youth;
Though sharp, they were goads of love,
To awaken souls from the sleep of death,
And seeking a portion in things beneath,
Instead of the joys above:
“The fear of God, and to do His will,
Is the sum of the matter here;
For every work, be it good or ill,
In judgment shall soon appear:”
In the "Song of songs" he would bid us rise
To joys and pleasures above the skies,
All heavenly and divine;
To fountains, gardens,.and pleasant flowers,
The winter past, and perennial bowers,
And "love better far than wine”