23G

THE ACADEMIC ASPIRANT.

With form attenuated by disease,

With paly cheek, and bloodless lip, he stands

The victim of his worth. All save the eye

Hath sadly changed ;— that undismayed yet gleams

The noble beacon of a noble soul!

Consumption shakes the tendons of his life,

And holds a fevered revel in his heart;—

He heeds it not—but as his body wastes,

The spirit gathers greater strength, and sheds

On the admiring world supernal light.

Renown, on its swift pinion, blazons forth

The glory of his name, and sages hail

And praise him—fairest lips recite his verse,

And nations arm them when he sings of war.

Alas, that eloquence will soon be mute—

That harp, unstrung, shall lose its loveliness,

Nor know its own sweet sound again. No more

Shall woman's eye behold its light approach,—