 | [The second greeting, in] The Golden Wedding |  |
30
THE SECOND GREETING.
Look back across your fifty years,
And be again the man, the maid,
Upon whose youthful hopes and fears
God's sweetest sacrament was laid.
And be again the man, the maid,
Upon whose youthful hopes and fears
God's sweetest sacrament was laid.
Bridge Time's swift river with a span
Whose arch shall hide his waves from sight;
Glide back to where your lives began;
Let past and present reunite.
Whose arch shall hide his waves from sight;
Glide back to where your lives began;
Let past and present reunite.
Be this that far October day
Which distance only lifts the higher—
A day with clouds of smoky gray
Rolling above the hills of fire.
Which distance only lifts the higher—
A day with clouds of smoky gray
Rolling above the hills of fire.
31
Be this that quickly-falling night
Which caught you almost unaware—
Your marriage-eve; and lo! how bright
Shines every star that glittered there!
Which caught you almost unaware—
Your marriage-eve; and lo! how bright
Shines every star that glittered there!
Make each of us a wedding-guest,
A friend amid the throng you knew,
Whose lips pronounced your nuptials blest,
Whose eyes were filled with tender dew.
A friend amid the throng you knew,
Whose lips pronounced your nuptials blest,
Whose eyes were filled with tender dew.
Why think, O Bride, of how the hours
Have stored your memory as they rolled,
Or why your wreath of orange-flowers
Time's alchemy has turned to gold?
Have stored your memory as they rolled,
Or why your wreath of orange-flowers
Time's alchemy has turned to gold?
Why, Bridegroom, look from face to face,
As though you knew them, and could name
Your children—women fair with grace,
And ripened men of worth and fame!
As though you knew them, and could name
Your children—women fair with grace,
And ripened men of worth and fame!
Why look you both for one who lies
In glory, but so far apart?
His laureled memory dims your eyes;
You can but see him with the heart.
In glory, but so far apart?
32
You can but see him with the heart.
Think them not yours; but each a guest
Or kinsman, and ourselves your peers,
Who differ from you, like the rest
Of mortals, but in looks and years.
Or kinsman, and ourselves your peers,
Who differ from you, like the rest
Of mortals, but in looks and years.
We will it thus. With Fancy's wand
We sever and rejoin your chain
By this one golden link—a bond
Whose touch shall make you young again.
We sever and rejoin your chain
By this one golden link—a bond
Whose touch shall make you young again.
Men see the fruit within the flower,
We see the flower within the fruit;
About the ripening sun and shower
Or willful lips to-night are mute.
We see the flower within the fruit;
About the ripening sun and shower
Or willful lips to-night are mute.
The music calls, the dance is set,
The feast is spread within the hall:
Bridegroom and Bride, a while forget
A little, to remember all!
The feast is spread within the hall:
Bridegroom and Bride, a while forget
A little, to remember all!
| [The second greeting, in] The Golden Wedding | |