Poems (Dorr)/An Anniversary
AN ANNIVERSARY
So long, so short, So swift, so slow, Are the years of man As they come and go!
O love, it was so long ago! So long, so long that we were young,And in the cloisters of our hearts Hope all her joy-bells rung!So long, so long that since that hour Full half a lifetime hath gone by—How ran the days ere first we met, Belovéd, thou and I?
We had our dreams, no doubt. The dawn Must still presage the rising sun,And rose and crimson flush the east Ere day is well begun.We had our dreams—fair, shadowy wraiths That fled when Day's full splendor kissedOur souls' high places, and its winds Swept the vales clear of mist!
So long, so short, So swift, so slow, Are the years of man As they come and go!
O love, it was but yesterday! Who said it was so long ago?How many times the rose hath bloomed, Why should we care to know?For it was just as sweet last June, As dewy fresh, as fair, as red,As when our first glad Eden knew The rare perfumes it shed!
O love, it was but yesterday! If yesterday is far away,As brightly on the hill-tops lies The sunshine of to-day.Sing thou, my soul! O heart, be glad! O circling years, fly swift or slow!Your ripening harvests shall not fail, Nor autumn's utmost glow,