THE WEDDING RING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 80, 5 April 1871, Page 3

THE WEDDING RING.

Only a well-worn hoop of gold, Unlit by any glow Of rainbow gem, a ring that told Its story long ago. Only a circlet dimm'd and thin With wedded years of life, Who«e memories cloud my soul within With sorrow-shaded strife. Only a cincture clasping fast Two separate lives in one, That calls to mind the sunny Pa3t, Yet leaves me still alone. Only a relic of the joy, In days no more to be, Of thoughts Regret alone can cloy, Never again for me. Only a treasure from the hand , No more to rest in mine, / But pass'd into the voiceless land, I Beyond the hills divine. Only a pledge of mutual love, Of love that ne'er shall fade, Though death his called those lips above That sacred plightings made. Only an earnest of the troth Nor Time nor aught can bend, But ever still will bind us both Unwavering to the end. Small as the < irclet is it bound All close her love to mine, Now she is gone, but steadfast round My so'-l its pledges twine. Never again its gold shall thread Her yielding fingers snow ; Never —not c'en when graves their dead Have loosed from sleep below. Never again ! But as one thought, In realms of perfect peace. Our liparts shall heat, with rapture fraught, When Death gives me release. C. Ernest Henslet, B.A.