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Littell's Living Age/Volume 169/Issue 2188/The Last Year

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139450Littell's Living AgeVolume 169, Issue 2188 : The Last YearC. I. Pringle

Tender lights on sky and sea;
Milkwhite blossoms on the tree;
Lull of storms and tempest bleak;
Faint bloom on a wan young cheek.
     "Spring, the blessèd Spring, is nigh!"
     Said my darling hopefully.

Violets' breath and primrose rays;
Sunshine threading leafy ways;
Gentle steps, that, weak and slow,
Through the woodland pathways go.
     "It were sad in Spring to die,"
     Said my darling wistfully.

Glorious Summer, crowned with flowers;
Dreamy days of golden hours;
Sunset-crimsoned hills afar;
Dewy eve, and silver star.
     "Strength may come with by-and-by,"
     Said my darling patiently.

Glowing fruits and ripening grain;
Languid days and nights of pain;
Fields so golden, earth so glad,
And a young life doomed! "'Tis sad
     Through the bright days here to lie,"
     Said my darling wearily.

Sighing winds and falling leaves;
Yearning love, that vainly grieves;
Patient eyes, with farewell gaze,
Greeting the wan autumn days.
     "Happy world, fair world, good-bye,"
     Said my darling tenderly.

Wailing storms and weeping skies;
Soft wings spread for Paradise;
Solemn whispering accents thrilled
With the awe of hope fulfilled.
     "Life! O blissful life on high!"
     Breathed my darling rapturously.

Wreathing snowdrifts, far and wide,
Mantling o'er the lone hillside.
Purer than that stainless veil —
Like a folded lily pale,
     While the moaning blast goes by,
     Sleeps my darling peacefully.