p. 12 | WORK OF RUM by George Paulin

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 15, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 46.

WORK OF RUM.

By George Paulin

I KNEW him as a sportive boy, Of age some fifteen years— A child in sweet simplicity, A boy in hopes and fears. He grew to manhood, nature's child, Of earth's fair garden floweret wild.

Heroic fancies early rose And reveled in his soul; Of hopes to quell all human woes, A glorious torrent roll; Through beating heart and burning brain Hope surged and swept, but surged in vain

They pledged him in the flowing cup; He bowed beneath their cheers: That fatal draught has swallowed up The residue of years; High hopes laid low in one short hour, Life's glory blighted in its flower.

No mother's tears, no father's sobs To light that eye avail; One frenzied blow life records robs Of an unfinished tale— A tale that might have been the story Of manly faith and lasting glory. —George Paulin.