Poems (Denver)/Let By-gones be By-gones

by Mary Caroline Denver and Jane Campbell Denver

LET BY-GONES BE BY-GONES.

Old friend! I have too much against thee,
 To wish for so poor a return;
Know you not, that on truth's holy altar
 No fire of false worship should burn?
When the wounding offense is repented,
 And the injury all done away,
And the guilt of it nobly acknowledged,
 Then let "by-gones be by-gones!" I pray.

But no voice of the past or the present,
 Though it point to the years that are gone,
Though it point to the grave of the silent,
 And the roses we planted thereon;
Though it tell of the tears shed together,
 On a bosom now pulseless and cold,
Can have power to drown the wrong-doing,
 And restore the dear feelings of old.

I love too much not to forgive it,
 But though I weep over the sin,
Though the "charmer charm never so wisely,"
 Let principle still reign within.
When acknowledged is all the wrong-doing,
 When the wounded heart ceases to bleed,
I will give my hand with my heart in it,
 And let "by-gones be by-gones" indeed.