"BY AND BY" AND "NEVER."
OF all the road; so pleasant,
So smooth unto our feet,
So tempting and inviting,
Whose roses seem so sweet,
There's none along life's journey,
Beneath youth's cloudless sky,
That leads to half the mischief
Of that road, "By and By."
Of all the far-off cities,
In story or in song,
Where dark regrets, like phantoms,
In countless numbers throng—
Where hopes He coldly shattered,
'Mid sorrow and 'mid shame,
There's none like one dim city,
And "Never" is its name.
Oh, eager hands that labor
In youth's bright, golden clime!
Oh, earnest hearts, remember
How speeds the foot of time!
Take heed, lest all unfruitful
Your dearest purpose die;
For to that city "Never"
The road is "By and By."
Geo. Cooper.