THE REIVER TIME.
BY JOHN G. SMITH, Author of " English Lyrics and Doric Lays," " The Folklore ofthe Scottish Borders," $c.) Old Time, thou hast flown with my youth away, And hid it in some of thy ruins grey. It was crowned with a flowery diadem, And jewelled with many a precious jem ; It was decked with robes of the virgin white, And rayed with hues of the heavenly light. Once more — once more — Old Time, restore The glorious things of the days of yore. Thou has reft the trees of their mantle gay, And trodden it down in the winter's clay ; Thou hast stripped the rose of its sweetest hue, And the violet of its deepest blue ; Thou hast cast a gloom o'er the sunny braes, And the fairy scenes of my early days. Once more — once more — Old Time, restore The beauteous things of the days of yore. Thou hast stolen the music of the song ; The wild brook hymned as it danced along ; The smiles that sunned my boyhood's years, Thou hast dimmed and changed into manhood's tears ; Thou hast breathed on the flowers that decked my path,, . And they folded their beauties, and slept in death Once more — once more — Old "Time, restore The sunny things of the days of yore. Thou hast closed the bright and the beaming eyes That shone as the stars in the azure skies ; j Thou hast paled the cheek of the beauteous bride, Who in radiance stood at her lover's side j j Thou hast snatched away the babe that was pressed j Like a jewel rare to his mother's breast. I Once more — once more — Old Time, restore j The angel forms of the days of yore. Alas ! the thought and the wish are in vain ; — The flowers of our youth never bloom here again. In this cold, wintry world, they wither and die ; But away in the genial climes of the sky They will burst afresh from their earthly tomb, And be clothed with hues of immortal bloom. Once more — once more — Old "Time will restore The loved and the lost of the days of yore. An Irish student was once asked what was meant by posthumous works. "They are such works," says Paddy, "as a man writes after he is dead."
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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 212, 5 February 1866, Page 3
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383THE REIVER TIME. Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 212, 5 February 1866, Page 3
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