Poems (Hoffman)/The Beautiful Past

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

THE BEAUTIFUL PAST

From the past, the beautiful misty past,
 Float faint, sweet melodies,
Strains that were all too dear to last
But whose hidden beauty we but half guessed
As they flitted away from us swift and fast,
 Linked with loved memories.

But now as we gaze on those far off shores
 They seem clad in robes sublime,
And we see where we dropped our restless oars
Where the ripple plays and the cataract roars,
And the tide of golden moments pours
 Down the silent river of time.

Those scenes are past and those days have fled
 With their weight of joy or woe,
But sometimes they come like a noiseless tread,
Like the footsteps of nations, long since dead;
And a gleam of mystical light is shed
 O'er the scenes of the long ago.

And faces rise from the light and gloom,
 Faces we used to see
Ere we changed, alas! it was all too soon,
The morning dew for the heat of noon,
And have mingled with Life's ever-changing tune
 And sailed on her troubled sea.

But we look ahead to the far off skies,
 For the years are flying fast,
And we know that the present that round us lies
Ere the light of a few more moments dies,
Will with many loved and severed ties
 Fade into the mist-veiled past.

The Summer is waning to Autumn time
 And Winter will soon be here,
Let us lay out our work in Love's design,
That golden deeds may our pathway line,
And leave in the past a jeweled mine;
 Ere we welcome another year.

And then when we reach our journey's close,
 The last look, backward cast,
Will rest on a scene of sweet repose
Where a peaceful river of good deeds flows;
And no cloud of darkness can interpose
 To mar our beautiful past.