 | Later Lays and Lyrics |  |
HERETOFORE.
“From all its kind this wasted heart,
This moody mind now drifts apart;
It longs to find the tideless shore
Where rests the wreck of Heretofore.”
—Motherwell.
This moody mind now drifts apart;
It longs to find the tideless shore
Where rests the wreck of Heretofore.”
—Motherwell.
I.
Fresh are the roses of to-dayWith hues that match the sunset's glow,
But sweeter, dearer far than they
Are flowers that withered long ago;
Young flowers that graced a radiant shore
Washed by the waves of Heretofore.
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II.
Take back this tome with gilded leaves,The work of one by woe untaught;
The soul of constancy that grieves
Within can find no room for thought:
I love alone to ponder o'er
The blotted scroll of Heretofore.
III.
Names written on that record dim,And stained with unavailing tears,
While airy visions round me swim,
Bring back the joys of other years;
And beams, outshining noontide, pour
Through the torn clouds of Heretofore.
IV.
Discordant to my mood of mindIs music of the present hour,
For only in the past I find
A voice that hath a spell of power;
A voice that wakes to life once more
The buried forms of Heretofore.
V.
I love the home, so glad of old,Though damp and mouldy now its walls,
And converse sweet with phantoms hold
That glide at midnight through its halls,
For they are wanderers from the shore
Of thy dim realm, oh, Heretofore!
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VI.
Kind looks, as slowly they depart,On me the wan procession cast,
For well they know that one poor heart
Keeps green remembrance of the past—
A heart that trembles to its core,
When sung the songs of Heretofore.
VII.
I love old oaks that feebly wave,And weeds that hide a ruined hearth;
Pale moss upon a sunken grave,
And every crumbling wreck of earth,
For they are teachers of a lore
That lends a charm to Heretofore.
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