In happier hours, my pleasure all day,
Was to rove with the thoughtless or dance with the gay;
Through life as I sported no clouds could I see,
And the hearts that were gayest were dearest to me;
But now in affliction how changed is the view,
Though gay hearts are many, sincere ones are few.
Though some come around us to laugh and to jest,
In sickness or sorrow they shrink from the test;
Their love and their friendship endure for awhile –
When Fortune is smiling, they also can smile:
Like blossoms that wither when daylight is gone,
And lose all their sweetness when out of the sun.
But thou in my sorrow still faithfully came,
And though I am altered I find thee the same:
Whene'er you come near me, no pleasure you find,
But always leave something like pleasure behind;
Like the night-blooming Ceres which sheds its perfume,
And opens its blossoms 'midst darkness and gloom.