Page:Poems Toke.djvu/119

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111

    We stand once more
Beside the tomb where slumber ages past,
To watch another year rejoin at last
    The gone before.

    And as she dies,
O'er every heart the scenes her wing hath brought,
The weal, the woe, her brief career hath wrought,
    Once more arise.

    We live again
'Mid vanished shadows, voices far away,—
And all that chequered o'er her fleeting day
    With joy or pain.

    When thou arose,
Departing year, I little thought to me,
How changed in all my lot on earth should be,
    Ere reached thy close!

    For thou hast seen
Long-cherished hopes, time could not all destroy,
Beam forth again and end in purest joy,
    In light serene.

    Thy days, that flew
On fairy wings, have joined my earthly lot
To one—in absence, darkness, ne'er forgot—
    Long loved and true.

    Yes, time can ne'er
Efface thy bright remembrance. Can I, then,
Behold thee pass away and feel no pain,
    Thrice blessèd year?