Poems (Charlotte Allen)/Memory

by Charlotte Allen

For works with similar titles, see Memory.

MEMORY.

Were I to blot from memory's shrine,
 The records of the past,
And in oblivion's sacred fount,
 All recollection cast,—

Would purer happiness be mine,
 If I should thus essay,
To cancel from my mental page,
 Each dark and sunny ray?

I'd like to cast all saddened thoughts,
 Like loathsome weeds away;
And only all the sweets retain,
 To cheer each passing day.

But bitter so is joined with sweet,
 I never can them sever,
And rather than part with one dear thought,
 I'll keep the sad forever.