A Picture of Human Life.
It was morning. Rosy fingered Aurora lifted the gorgeous curtains of
the east, and unlocked the golden gates of light, ushering in the
young king of day. The glad earth, bathed with the dews of night, and
redolent with flowers, lay blushing and rejoicing beneath his radiant
beams, and blooming nature strode forth, clad in his most beautiful
garments, while the murmurs of the waterfall, the sigh of the breeze,
the carol of the birds, and the hum of busy life--all fell upon the
ear, making enchanting melody--music that touched the soul.
Cradled in its downy bed, beneath a window closely curtained, to
obstruct the light, lay a sleeping infant, whose dawn of life had just
begun. Its very helplessness demanded our love and pity. It smiled and
wept, but knew not why; but succeeding days added strength and vigor
to his frame, and he came forth in all the sportiveness and beauty of
infant loveliness.
It was noon; the sun had gained his zenith in the heavens, and shed
down his scorching rays upon the parched earth, that lay drooping
beneath his noon-day beams. Scarce a leaf was seen to move, the birds
sat silent with folded wing, in the leafy branches, the flowers hung
fainting upon their stems, and nature shrank from the oppressive heat.
The cradled infant had passed from infancy to childhood, from
childhood to youth, from youth to manhood, through the various changes
that mark each successive period, and he now stood in the meridian of
life,
"With all his blushing honors thick upon him.
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