| WHEN the lamp is shatter'd, | |
| The light in the dust lies dead; | |
| When the cloud is scatter'd, | |
| The rainbow's glory is shed; | |
| When the lute is broken, | 5 |
| Sweet tones are remember'd not | |
| When the lips have spoken, | |
| Loved accents are soon forgot. | |
| |
| As music and splendour | |
| Survive not the lamp and the lute, | 10 |
| The heart's echoes render | |
| No song when the spirit is mute— | |
| No song but sad dirges, | |
| Like the wind through a ruin'd cell, | |
| Or the mournful surges | 15 |
| That ring the dead seaman's knell. | |
| |
| When hearts have once mingled, | |
| Love first leaves the well-built nest; | |
| The weak one is singled | |
| To endure what it once possest. | 20 |
| O Love, who bewailest | |
| The frailty of all things here, | |
| Why choose you the frailest | |
| For your cradle, your home, and your bier? | |
| |
| Its passions will rock thee, | 25 |
| As the storms rock the ravens on high: | |
| Bright reason will mock thee, | |
| Like the sun from a wintry sky. | |
| From thy nest every rafter | |
| Will rot, and thine eagle home | 30 |
| Leave thee naked to laughter, | |
| When leaves fall and cold winds come. | |
