 | Poems by John Howard Bryant |  |
164
LINES READ AT A GOLDEN WEDDING, SEPTEMBER 21, 1863.
Just fifty summers are past,
And fifty winters of snow,
Since you, our friends, first joined your bands
In wedlock for weal or woe.
And fifty winters of snow,
Since you, our friends, first joined your bands
In wedlock for weal or woe.
'Twas a quiet New England town,
On a quiet Autumn day,
The sunshine came like a blessing down,
And the winds were as soft as May.
On a quiet Autumn day,
The sunshine came like a blessing down,
And the winds were as soft as May.
From the meadows shorn and brown,
No more came the mower's din,
For the Summer fruits and the golden sheaves,
From the hillside were gathered in.
No more came the mower's din,
For the Summer fruits and the golden sheaves,
From the hillside were gathered in.
The maples were tinged with crimson hues,
The linden and ash with gold,
As silver tinges the human hair,
When we are growing old.
The linden and ash with gold,
As silver tinges the human hair,
When we are growing old.
Then a merry company
Were gathered of old and young,
And the parson gave his blessing in prayer,
And the marriage psalm was sung.
Were gathered of old and young,
And the parson gave his blessing in prayer,
And the marriage psalm was sung.
165
And that wedding company
Went out to meet no more—
Some wandered far, and all, save one,
Have passed to the shadowy shore.
Went out to meet no more—
Some wandered far, and all, save one,
Have passed to the shadowy shore.
And now when fifty years
Have rolled their suns away,
A merry company are met
On the golden wedding day.
Have rolled their suns away,
A merry company are met
On the golden wedding day.
'Tis far away from the scene
In that quiet New England town,
But the sunlight falls like a blessing here,
And the same kind heaven looks down.
In that quiet New England town,
But the sunlight falls like a blessing here,
And the same kind heaven looks down.
In those fifty years what blessings
Have crowned each passing day;
The unseen hand of the Merciful One
Has led you all the way.
Have crowned each passing day;
The unseen hand of the Merciful One
Has led you all the way.
And sons and daughters were born,
To gladden and cheer your home;
Your sons with manly vigor and strength;
Your daughters, with beauty and bloom.
To gladden and cheer your home;
Your sons with manly vigor and strength;
Your daughters, with beauty and bloom.
And then as the years rolled on,
The prattling grand-children appear.
Ah, methinks that a golden wedding day
Without them, were cold and drear.
The prattling grand-children appear.
Ah, methinks that a golden wedding day
Without them, were cold and drear.
166
If yours is not wealth or power,—
These fall to the lot of few—
The better rewards of dutiful toil
And goodness belong to you.
These fall to the lot of few—
The better rewards of dutiful toil
And goodness belong to you.
Such lovely examples as yours,
At the plow, the shop and the wheel,
And the rearing of children to dutiful lives,
Are the stay of the common weal.
At the plow, the shop and the wheel,
And the rearing of children to dutiful lives,
Are the stay of the common weal.
'Tis not the wealthy and proud;
'Tis not whom the world calls great,
But an earnest people who will to be free;
That build and support the State.
'Tis not whom the world calls great,
But an earnest people who will to be free;
That build and support the State.
Thus our nation in fifty years
Has passed o'er the mountain's hoar,
And reared her swarming cities and towns
By the broad Pacific shore.
Has passed o'er the mountain's hoar,
And reared her swarming cities and towns
By the broad Pacific shore.
Till she grasp the mighty oceans,
That wash the shores of the globe;
And people of every clime and land,
Find shelter beneath her robe.
That wash the shores of the globe;
And people of every clime and land,
Find shelter beneath her robe.
What a wonderful march of thought
Those fifty years have known,
How the comforts of life have multiplied,
And science and knowledge grown.
Those fifty years have known,
How the comforts of life have multiplied,
And science and knowledge grown.
167
What engines of mighty power,
What nice invention and skill,
Dull lifeless matter have seemingly forced
To work with a human will.
What nice invention and skill,
Dull lifeless matter have seemingly forced
To work with a human will.
And how many plans and hopes,
How many devices of men,
Have vanished like morning dreams away,
In the years, since now and then.
How many devices of men,
Have vanished like morning dreams away,
In the years, since now and then.
What myriads have sprung to life
And what myriads have passed away,
A vast procession hast'ning along,
Like a river on its way.
And what myriads have passed away,
A vast procession hast'ning along,
Like a river on its way.
Ten lustrums ago the cloud
Of war hung over our shore;
But a darker cloud hangs over us now,
Than the land ever saw before.
Of war hung over our shore;
But a darker cloud hangs over us now,
Than the land ever saw before.
But light is breaking through,
And the dawn of peace is at hand,
Which shall make this truly the home of the free—
A great and happy land.
And the dawn of peace is at hand,
Which shall make this truly the home of the free—
A great and happy land.
For the onward sweep of war,
That bears us along like a wave,
Is breaking the bands of the master's power
And the fetters of the slave.
That bears us along like a wave,
Is breaking the bands of the master's power
And the fetters of the slave.
168
May you live to see that day;
May your aged eyes behold,
Over all this fair and goodly realm,
The flag of the free unrolled.
May your aged eyes behold,
Over all this fair and goodly realm,
The flag of the free unrolled.
Then like Simeon old, you may say,
With a rapturons glow of the heart,
“Our eyes have beheld the salvation of God,
Let thy servant in peace depart.”
With a rapturons glow of the heart,
“Our eyes have beheld the salvation of God,
Let thy servant in peace depart.”
| Poems by John Howard Bryant | |