THE UNCERTAINTY OF EARTHLY PLEASURES.
By S. Elmer
WHY should we seek our portion here,
Where life is strewn with many a tear?
Our prospects may appear most fair,
Yet all things here uncertain are. Mankind have objects to obtain,
Whether 'tis honor, pleasure, gain;
Yet this sad truth they have to learn,
That each must vanish in his turn. They seek some fancied new delight,
They paint their future prospects bright;
But as they reach to catch the prize,
Away the airy phantom flies. And while they talk and strive and toil,
Still gathering is the serpent's coil,
And when too late they often find,
It leaves a deathly sting behind. To false ambition some aspire,
They fan the flame, they feed the fire;
Yet useless all the pains they take,
They perish in the sparks they make. This world is but a harvest field,
Yet thorns and brambles doth it yield;
The bud is blasted ere 'tis blown,
The plant is withered ere 'tis grown. We then should till the soil with care,
And still be this our earnest prayer:
That God would bless the seed when sown,
And in the end the harvest own. For by God's word this truth we know,
That those who to the Spirit sow,
Shall reap on earth a hundred fold,
And bags in heaven that wax not old.
S. ELMER.