JOYS OF THE PAST.
I
Joys of the past! are they vanish'd for ever?
Flow'rets soon gather'd and sooner decay'd;
Ripples of light upon Time's flowing river,
Lost with the breath o'er its bosom that stray'd?
No; there are hours in the heart's happy sadness,
When they return, amid sunshine and rain;
Memory, bright as a rainbow of gladness,
Spans the dark sky with their beauty again.
II
Visions of glory, half cloud and half splendour,
Flash on the soul, looking back through the years;
Hopes that were lofty, and loves that were tender,
Gleam through the haze of our passionate tears.
Vainly, oh! vainly our hearts would restore them;
Fair though they glitter, how quickly they're gone!
Echoes that die with the music that bore them,
Lights that are darken'd the moment they've shone.
