Page:The songs that Quinte sang.djvu/85

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And he whispers: “O sad mortal!
Bid thy sorrows all depart,
I have come with fairest blessings
And would cheer thy saddened heart.”
And I whisper: “Tell me, New Year,
What thou hast in store for me?”
But he clasps his hand still closer
O’er the gifts I may not see.

And he speaks in solemn sadness
“Mortal, would’st thou look ahead,
Would’st thou draw aside the curtain
From the paths that thou must tread?
Never yet were seen by mortals,
Paths as yet by them untrod,
Seek not then to read the future,
Leave it all to time and God.”

Then with footsteps fleet and noiseless,
Speed the shining throng away
And once more alone I’m sitting
In the darkness, cold and gray.
“Ah! The New Year’s right,” I murmur,
“It is best I should not know,
So to God I leave the future
Be it weal or be it woe.”