TO THE OLD YEAR.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 239, 28 January 1888, Page 2

TO THE OLD YEAR.

When them wort young— the bolls rang out. A welcome, and we laughed in gleo To hoar the children's merry shout Bidding " (iod speed to thee." We thought thou slightest be a friend ■**>■» With sunshine in thy traln-^V But yet a weary time of cure', ' \ Came with thy. joyless reigu! v s For Hopo was bouyant and Faith was. strong, And longing oyes with love wore bright,— But like sweet echoes or a song They died away in the wintry night. And in thy spring we loved a flow'r, The fairest rose in all the west; Thy breath was cold, and in An hour It faded on my breast 1 Wo thought thou mightest smile on him, Our aarJing was so fair ; But though our eyes w ith tears were dim Thou houdedst not dispair ! Yet unbidden visions come and go, And weary eyes with tears are wet ; For soitow clings to tho long ago'— Ah I darling isevtic-wo nnss thco yet I And other hearts have bled as well At thy sad reign of death and gloom, Thy sunbeams only smiled to swell The tortiuv s of their doom ! We thought thou mightest bo a king, With royalty divine, But only sorrow and only death Wore servitors of thine. For many a heart beats strangely wild With a yearning wail o'er vanished joy : Some father inouructh his erring child, Some mother longeth to meet her boy. Now thou art old and seeking rest, Thy mournful days are nearly o'er ; < The clouds aro dark in the heavy west • And dim the silent shore. We thought thou mightest rule us hero With love, and peace, and grace, God grant it be a happier year That conies to take thy place ! The midnight cometh— tho morn is near ; May sorrow, like thy sun, be set ; A holy calm light tho new-born year Though hearts will mourn for their lost ones yet. " w<R>WnJ& Otahuhu, 51st December, 1887.