32
THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.
Ah! gazing back
Upon the parted year, we darkly mourn
Its rich and wasted treasures. We recall,
With keen remorse, life's follies and its crimes,
And tears are swelling in our stricken hearts—
Vain tears, alas how vain! And see! beside
The shadowy spectre of the silent Past,
A sad and sorrowing Angel seems to stand,
Who, in a tone as mournful as the cry
Of a lost soul, rebukes us for our deeds
Of error, and implores us to be true
To earth and Heaven in all the coming time
That may be ours beneath the skies.
Upon the parted year, we darkly mourn
Its rich and wasted treasures. We recall,
With keen remorse, life's follies and its crimes,
And tears are swelling in our stricken hearts—
Vain tears, alas how vain! And see! beside
The shadowy spectre of the silent Past,
A sad and sorrowing Angel seems to stand,
Who, in a tone as mournful as the cry
Of a lost soul, rebukes us for our deeds
Of error, and implores us to be true
To earth and Heaven in all the coming time
That may be ours beneath the skies.
Here, here,
At one year's burial and another's birth,
Here, on this narrow isthmus in the sea,
Time's ever surging sea, oh let us pause
And deeply muse upon the two vast worlds,
Spread out on either hand before our eyes,
The Past and Future. From this lonely height,
At one year's burial and another's birth,
Here, on this narrow isthmus in the sea,
Time's ever surging sea, oh let us pause
And deeply muse upon the two vast worlds,
Spread out on either hand before our eyes,
The Past and Future. From this lonely height,
