 | The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer |  |
185
A WAIL.
Wail! wail! wail!
Filling earth with the sound—
Alas, the Old Year
Lieth dead and discrown'd!
Happy dreams, sunny joys,
Pleasant thoughts that we cherished,
Were born while he ruled,
And with him have they perished;
A phantom with scythe
And frail glass hurried by
Who palsied his limbs,
And who curtained his eye.
Filling earth with the sound—
Alas, the Old Year
Lieth dead and discrown'd!
Happy dreams, sunny joys,
Pleasant thoughts that we cherished,
Were born while he ruled,
And with him have they perished;
A phantom with scythe
And frail glass hurried by
Who palsied his limbs,
And who curtained his eye.
Croak! croak! croak!
Outcalleth the crow,
Perched on the tree-top
A prophet of woe!
Black are his vestments,
And vigil he keepeth
Over the spot where
The weary one sleepeth.
Fled have bright schemes
With the year that is gone,
And pall o'er the coffin
Of love hath been drawn.
Outcalleth the crow,
Perched on the tree-top
A prophet of woe!
Black are his vestments,
And vigil he keepeth
Over the spot where
The weary one sleepeth.
Fled have bright schemes
With the year that is gone,
And pall o'er the coffin
Of love hath been drawn.
Wail! wail! wail!
The knell of the year
Telleth children of dust
That the night-time is near—
That Beauty in vain
Watcheth over her flower—
That her march to the grave
Groweth faster each hour:
Wail! wail! wail!
Filling earth with the sound,
Alas! the Old Year
Lieth dead and discrown'd.
The knell of the year
Telleth children of dust
That the night-time is near—
186
Watcheth over her flower—
That her march to the grave
Groweth faster each hour:
Wail! wail! wail!
Filling earth with the sound,
Alas! the Old Year
Lieth dead and discrown'd.
| The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer | |