Mirth And Mourning

'O cast away your sorrow;     A while, at least, be gay!     If grief must come tomorrow,     At least, be glad today!     'How can you still be sighing     When smiles are everywhere?     The little birds are flying     So blithely through the air;     'The sunshine glows so brightly     O'er all the blooming earth;     And every heart beats lightly,     Each face is full of mirth.'     'I always feel the deepest gloom     When day most brightly shines:     When Nature shows the fairest bloom,     My spirit most repines;     'For, in the brightest noontide glow,     The dungeon's light is dim;     Though freshest winds around us blow,     No breath can visit him.     'If he must sit in twilight gloom,     Can I enjoy the sight     Of mountains clad in purple bloom,     And rocks in sunshine bright?     'My heart may well be desolate,     These tears may well arise     While prison wall and iron grate     Oppress his weary eyes.'     'But think of him tomorrow,     And join your comrades now;     That constant cloud of sorrow     Ill suits so young a brow.     'Hark, how their merry voices     Are sounding far and near!     While all the world rejoices     Can you sit moping here?'     'When others' hearts most lightly bound     Mine feels the most oppressed;     When smiling faces greet me round     My sorrow will not rest:     'I think of him whose faintest smile     Was sunshine to my heart,     Whose lightest word could care beguile     And blissful thoughts impart;     'I think how he would bless that sun,     And love this glorious scene;     I think of all that has been done,     And all that might have been.     'Those sparkling eyes, that blessed me so,     Are dim with weeping now;     And blighted hope and burning woe     Have ploughed that marble brow.     'What waste of youth, what hopes destroyed,     What days of pining care,     What weary nights of comfort void     Art thou condemned to bear!     'O! if my love must suffer so     And wholly for my sake     What marvel that my tears should flow,     Or that my heart should break!'