Poems (Edwards)/Bring Back the Past
BRING BACK THE PAST.
"Call them, let me see them."
[Shakespeare.
Brine back the past, I fain would see The faces that I loved of yore,Bring back the friends who used to be My playmates long, aye, long ago;I know them well,—those who belonged To our familiar household band,I knew them well,—those who have thronged The portal to the spirit land.
Bring back the past, the varied past, With all its hours of grief and pain,I'd bear the tempest's wildest blast To taste its hopes and joys again; Ah! brighter flowers have bloomed for me Than all the future can bestow,The rose is gone, and now I see Ten thousand thorns around me grow.
Bring back the past to me once more, And though, alas! no longer mine,I would review the number o'er Of those I loved in "Auld lang syne;"Oh! call them back, e'en though they bring The shroud, the coffin, and the pall,Let not oblivion's brooding wing Around their sacred memories fall.
Bring back the past, for there are friends And hopes, and joys, all buried there,The bright smile with the tear-drop blends, And holiest memories there appear;Roll back thy tide, thou sea of time! And bring me back the lost once more,Bring back my childhood's sunny hours And all the joys of "long ago."