Page:Poems Angier.djvu/119

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OUR BIRTHDAYS.
Our birthdays! solemn birthdays,
Time's sentinels they stand,
While each from out his watch-tower cries
The foe is close at hand;
These mentors mark Death's onward march,
Monition kindly given,
Life's mile-stones—may they record bear,
We're one year nearer heaven.

What, though across our pilgrim-path,
Dark clouds and shadows steal?
To Faith's keen eye these phantoms grim
Bright angel forms reveal;
Care, pain, and grief, they Heaven-sent come,
On faded brows to bind,
Celestial flowers of love and trust
With Hope's sweet buds entwined.

Then sorrow not to see the years
Go speeding on their way;
Ask not to check them in their flight,
Nor bid a moment stay;