Answer To A Beautiful Poem, Written By Montgomery, Author Of "The Wanderer Of Switzerland," Etc., Entitled "The Common Lot."[1]

1.     Montgomery! true, the common lot     Of mortals lies in Lethe's wave;     Yet some shall never be forgot,     Some shall exist beyond the grave. 2.     "Unknown the region of his birth,"     The hero [2] rolls the tide of war;     Yet not unknown his martial worth,     Which glares a meteor from afar. 3.     His joy or grief, his weal or woe,     Perchance may 'scape the page of fame;     Yet nations, now unborn, will know     The record of his deathless name. 4.     The Patriot's and the Poet's frame     Must share the common tomb of all:     Their glory will not sleep the same;     'That' will arise, though Empires fall. 5.     The lustre of a Beauty's eye     Assumes the ghastly stare of death;     The fair, the brave, the good must die,     And sink the yawning grave beneath. 6.     Once more, the speaking eye revives,     Still beaming through the lover's strain;     For Petrarch's Laura still survives:     She died, but ne'er will die again. 7.     The rolling seasons pass away,     And Time, untiring, waves his wing;     Whilst honour's laurels ne'er decay,     But bloom in fresh, unfading spring. 8.     All, all must sleep in grim repose,     Collected in the silent tomb;     The old, the young, with friends and foes,     Fest'ring alike in shrouds, consume. 9.     The mouldering marble lasts its day,     Yet falls at length an useless fane;     To Ruin's ruthless fangs a prey,     The wrecks of pillar'd Pride remain. 10.     What, though the sculpture be destroy'd,     From dark Oblivion meant to guard;     A bright renown shall be enjoy'd,     By those, whose virtues claim reward. 11.     Then do not say the common lot     Of all lies deep in Lethe's wave;     Some few who ne'er will be forgot     Shall burst the bondage of the grave.