Page:Poems of Nature and Life.djvu/267

 RETROSPECT 2$y

Silence recalled thy look and tone ; " Fear not," I said, " I'll not forget."

Long years between our lives have swept ;

I've looked for thee and found thee not — Lost thee in dreams, and waking wept,

Till I half wished thou wert forgot. Oft, while the bird of night sings clear,

And the pale mists sweep o'er the wave, Thy voice comes sighing on mine ear,

Like a sad whisper from the grave.

How oft I've stood and scanned the bay.

And fancied thou wert ferrying o'er — Seen the tides swell and sink away ;

And, when I knew thou wast no more, Still faithful to unfriendly time,

I'd haunt the beach that skirts the main. And hear the hope-deceiving chime

Sing, " He will yet come back again."

" Forget me not ! " Ah, not alone

The yearning heart or plaintive bells Echo those words ! With solemn tone

All Nature's voice the chorus swells. Thy mournful warning fain to mock

With myriad tongues of subtile skill. Which, restless as the ticking clock,

Keep the tired mind remembering still.

The fading flower, the withering leaf.

Yon crumbling arch, those grassy graves.

Comrades resigned with tears and grief,

Some laid in earth, some whelmed in waves,

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