I Wish I Was by That Dim Lake - The Moorings

I wish I was by that dim lake

Where sinful souls their farewells take

Of this vain world, and half-way lie

In Death’s cold shadow, ere they die

There, there, far from thee

Deceitful world, my home should be

Where, come what might of gloom and pain

False hope should ne’er deceive again!

The lifeless sky, the mournful sound

Of unseen waters, falling round

The dry leaves quivering o’er my head

Like man, unquiet even when dead

These, ay, these should wean

My soul from Life’s deluding scene

And turn each thought, each wish I have

Like willows, downward towards the grave

As they who to their couch at night

Would welcome sleep, first quench the light

So must the hopes that keep this breast

Awake, be quenched, ere it can rest

Cold, cold, my heart must grow

Unchanged by either joy or woe

Like freezing founts, where all that’s thrown

Within their current turns to stone