346 CONSOLATIONS OF SOLITUDE
To sound thy knell each voice shall swell, but thine no more I
hear. Fond friends, to dust return ye must ! O why are ye so dear ?
��And when the boisterous winter winds around the house shall
howl. And placed before thy empty seat is seen an empty bowl. When through the sky the clouds shall lie in one broad sheet
of gray, And the keen blast to the dead past hath swept all bloom
away. When in deep rest the river's breast lies cased in glassy shield, Ice far and wide on every side incrusting every field, When all around o'er trackless ground the drifted snows are
piled. Through all the day no step to stray across the pathless wild, Until at last, light ebbing fast. Night's silent shadows fall. And spectres grim through firelight dim dance flickering on the
wall, —
Then must I grieve through the long eve, and spend the hours
alone ; In gusts my ear shall seem to hear a fond, familiar tone. The poems we were wont to read I shall be musing o'er. But shut the book at those sad words, " Farewell, we meet no
more ! " And when, grown old, December cold his dreariest look shall
wear. And the merry chime of Christmas time comes ringing through
the air. All round about, within, without, the carol, sounding clear. Shall seem to moan, " Thou'rt all alone — a weary wanderer
here 1 " Thy voice through silent space will sound, thy tread in every
track ; Despair will ever call on thee, but thou wilt ne'er come back.
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