Nothingness of Life

I never pass a venerable tree,
Pining away to nothingness and dust;
Ruin's vain shades of power I never see,
Once dedicated to Time's cheating trust-
But warm Reflection wakes her saddest thought,
And views Life's vanity in cheerless light,
And sees Earth's bubbles, youth so eager sought,
Burst into emptiness of lost delight,
And all the pictures of Life's early day,
Like evening's striding shadows, haste away.
Yet there's a glimmering of pleasure springs
From such reflections of Earth's vanity;
We pine and sicken o'er life's mortal things,
And feel a relish for Eternity.