 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
618
THE LOVING THAT NEVER GROWS OLD.
You think as she sits by the fire in her chair,
To wrinkles her face is a prey;
That lustre has fled from her beautiful eyes
And her locks have grown soberly grey;
That the footstep is feeble that once was so strong,
And the fingers are shrunken and cold;
There is nothing of youth but the sweet, sunny smile,
And the loving that never grows old.
To wrinkles her face is a prey;
That lustre has fled from her beautiful eyes
And her locks have grown soberly grey;
That the footstep is feeble that once was so strong,
And the fingers are shrunken and cold;
There is nothing of youth but the sweet, sunny smile,
And the loving that never grows old.
But here as I sit on the opposite side,
Before me there come as I gaze,
The beauty and grace that enraptured my soul
In the vigor of earlier days.
For the wrinkles and pallor are only a mask,
And beneath it I readily see
The grace and the truth and the wonderful charms
That made a fond captive of me.
Before me there come as I gaze,
The beauty and grace that enraptured my soul
In the vigor of earlier days.
For the wrinkles and pallor are only a mask,
And beneath it I readily see
The grace and the truth and the wonderful charms
That made a fond captive of me.
I see the dear lips that were curved like a bow,
The cheeks that were tinted with rose,
The eyes that grew dark when her spirit awoke,
And lightened to blue in repose;
And the long, silken lashes that modestly dropped,
Concealing her happiness, when
I told her the tale that so oft has been told
By the sons to the daughters of men.
The cheeks that were tinted with rose,
The eyes that grew dark when her spirit awoke,
And lightened to blue in repose;
And the long, silken lashes that modestly dropped,
Concealing her happiness, when
I told her the tale that so oft has been told
By the sons to the daughters of men.
Ah, me! through each change that our fortune has brought,
How faithful she stood by my side!
In health or in sickness, in gladness or grief,
The wife kept the vow of the bride.
And the branches that grew on the family tree,
Our children, and children of those,
Call her blessed and pray that her life may be long,
And with happiness filled to its close.
How faithful she stood by my side!
In health or in sickness, in gladness or grief,
The wife kept the vow of the bride.
619
Our children, and children of those,
Call her blessed and pray that her life may be long,
And with happiness filled to its close.
Though Time in his envy her beauty would mar,
Small changes his efforts have made,
For my heart and my memory look through my eyes
On a picture that never can fade.
The Present rolls off like the clouds from the sky,
The Past in bright colors appears,
And I see all the charms that attracted me first,
Clear and strong through the mask of the years.
Small changes his efforts have made,
For my heart and my memory look through my eyes
On a picture that never can fade.
The Present rolls off like the clouds from the sky,
The Past in bright colors appears,
And I see all the charms that attracted me first,
Clear and strong through the mask of the years.
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |