Page:Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson, Hitherto unpublished, 1921.djvu/78

 whose thoughts and hopes are so much a part of his daily life as to take on the aspect of personified companions. In such verses as "And new hopes whisper sweetly new delight," and "A troop of shouting hopes keep step with me," he gives voice and form to these creatures of the mind, in a manner that appealingly intensifies our realization of the intimate communion between the poet and his faithful troop of thoughts and aspirations.

HOPES

Tho' day by day old hopes depart,

Yet other hopes arise

If still we bear a hopeful heart

And forward-looking eyes.

Of all that entered hand in hand

With me the dusty plains—

Look round!—not one remains,

Not one remains of all the jovial band.

Some fell behind, some hastened on;

Some, scattered far and wide,

Sought lands on every side;

One way or other, all the band are gone.

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