BIRTHDAY

This is the day that gave me birth In eighteen hundred seven; From worlds unseen I came to earth, Far from my native heaven. Thirty and two long years have pass'd, To grief and sorrow given; And now to crown my woes at last I am confined in prison. 'Tis not for crimes that I have done That to my foes I'm given, But to the world I am unknown, And my reward's in heaven. What troubled scenes may yet ensue To strew my path with sorrow, Is not for me to know, 'tis true, I boast not of to-morrow. One thing is sure, this life at best Is like a troubled ocean; I often wish myself at rest From all its dire commotion. But let its troubled bosom heave, Its surges beat around me; To truth, eternal truth, I cleave, Its floods can never drown me.