1758. Robert Southey to Walter Scott, [c. 13 March 1810]
1758. Robert Southey to Walter Scott, [c. 13 March 1810] *
They sin who tell us Love can die,
With Life all other passions fly
All others are but vanity.
In heaven Ambition cannot dwell
Nor Avarice in the vaults of Hell, –
Earthly these passions, as of earth,
They perish where they have their birth.
But Love is undestructible
Its holy flame for ever burneth,
From Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth,
Too oft on earth a troubled guest
At times deceived, at times opprest,
It here is tried & purified,
And hath in Heaven its proper rest.
It soweth here with toil & care,
But the harvest-time of Love is there
Oh – when a Mother meets on high
The Babe she lost in infancy,
Hath she not then for pains & fears,
The day of woe, the xxxx anxious night,
For all her sorrow, all her tears
An overpayment of delight.
I am afraid these are good for nothing out of the Poem, [1] – & out of place in it. Tell me what poems of mine you select, & I will see if I can mend them. [2]
Notes
* Address: To/ Walter Scott Esqre/ Edinburgh
Stamped: KESWICK/
298
Postmark: [partial] MR/ [illegible]/ 13
MS: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. AL; 2p. (c).
Previously published: A
Catalogue of the Collection of Autographs Formed by Ferdinand Julius Dreer, 2 vols (Philadephia, Pennsylvania,
1890–1893), II, p. 127 [in part]. BACK
