Literature Network » John Dryden » The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II » Songs in the "Indian Emperor"

Songs in the "Indian Emperor"

  I.
  Ah, fading joy! how quickly art thou past!
          Yet we thy ruin haste.
  As if the cares of human life were few,
          We seek out new:
  And follow Fate, which would too fast pursue.
  See how on every bough the birds express,
    In their sweet notes, their happiness.
    They all enjoy, and nothing spare;
    But on their mother Nature lay their care:
  Why then should man, the lord of all below,
          Such troubles choose to know,
  As none of all his subjects undergo?
  Hark, hark, the waters fall, fall, fall,
  And with a murmuring sound
  Dash, dash upon the ground,
          To gentle slumbers call.
  II.
  I look'd, and saw within the book of fate,
          When many days did lour,
          When lo! one happy hour
  Leap'd up, and smiled to save the sinking state;
    A day shall come when in thy power
          Thy cruel foes shall be;
          Then shall thy land be free:
          And then in peace shall reign;
  But take, O take that opportunity,
  Which, once refused, will never come again.

Literature Network » John Dryden » The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Vol II » Songs in the "Indian Emperor"