Poems (Eaton)/The Silver Wedding
THE SILVER WEDDING.[1]
SWEET autumn lends its purest light Of golden sun and mellow skies,Its lovely landscapes glowing bright With varying tints of gorgeous dyes;And dearest friends have gathered round To bring their offerings of love;And smiles and joy and mirth abound, While music echoes through the grove—And heaven and earth combine, to say,How blest this silver wedding-day.
Think they, this middle-aged pair, Standing below the autumn wreath,With tint of silver in their hair, But tender smiling eyes beneath,— Think they of one bright rose-hued day, When strong in youthful hope, they stoodThe central object for the gaze Of an admiring multitude,And spake the words, with earnest breath,Which made them one,—for life, for death?
The passing years to them have brought, As unto all of human birth,Such discipline, with anguish fraught, As makes life seem of little worth—And joys so deep, so full of heaven, So overcharged with joy's excess,That strength divine must needs be given, Or the heart faints with happiness.Such destiny our Father gives,Such checkered lives His children live.
Oh, it is meet, that friends should come Rejoicing in this festive hour,That gifts of love should grace the home, And music yield its thrilling power—That sweetest, choicest flowers should lend Their fragrant blossoming to bless,With gleam of shining ore to blend Their smiles with nature's loveliness.One hour like this sends gilded raysThrough all life's darkening future days.
At ancient Cana's marriage feast, Was wrought the miracle of love,By the gracious Saviour-guest, His goodness and His power to prove—Be His, to-day, the crowning gift, Which he to wedded hearts has given,Two souls as one, in love uplift, And bathe in beams of light from heaven,So making life, with sunny ray,One glorious silver wedding-day.
- ↑ Of neighbor friends.