A Thought on Death: November, 1814
A Thought on Death: November, 1814
Original Text
The Works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld, Volume I (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row, 1825), pp. 266-67. PR 4057 B7 1825 v.1 Robarts Library.
1When life as opening buds is sweet,
2And golden hopes the fancy greet,
3And Youth prepares his joys to meet,--
4Alas! how hard it is to die!
5When just is seized some valued prize,
6And duties press, and tender ties
7Forbid the soul from earth to rise,--
8How awful then it is to die!
9When, one by one, those ties are torn,
10And friend from friend is snatched forlorn,
11And man is left alone to mourn,--
12Ah then, how easy 'tis to die!
13When faith is firm, and conscience clear,
14And words of peace the spirit cheer,
15And visioned glories half appear,--
16'Tis joy, 'tis triumph then to die.
17When trembling limbs refuse their weight,
18And films, slow gathering, dim the sight,
19And clouds obscure the mental light,--
20'Tis nature's precious boon to die.
Publication Start Year
1821
Publication Notes
Published in Christian Disciple, 3 (1821): 440
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
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