 | [Poems by Harris in] The living writers of the South |  |
237
The Old and the New
I.
Clasp hands with those who are going,Kiss the lips that are raised to be kissed,
For the life of the Old Year is flowing
And melting away in the mist.
II.
A shadow lies black on the water,A silence hangs over the hill,
And the echo comes fainter and shorter,
From the river that runs by the mill.
III.
Greet the New Year with music and laughter,Let the Old shrink away with a tear!
But we shall remember hereafter
The many who die with the year.
238
IV.
Ay! we shall regret and rememberMary, and Maud, and Irene,
Though the swift-falling snow of December
Lies over them now as a screen;
V.
And the alternate sunshine and shadowSweep over their graves with a thrill,—
Irene lies asleep in the meadow,
And Mary and Maud on the hill.
VI.
Clasp hands with those who are going,Kiss the lips that are raised to be kissed,
For the life of the Old Year is flowing,
And melting away in the mist.
| [Poems by Harris in] The living writers of the South | |