Poems (Acton)/A Farewell to the Old Year

A FAREWELL TO THE OLD YEAR. ——

Go! Winter bears thee from us. Flowers,
 That crowned thee once, are dead;
And hopes, thy spring-time raised to us,
 Have, with thy beauty, fled.
Yet we would shield thy fading form
 From murmurs of regret;
Though many a heart that yearned for thee
 Thy sojourn must forget.

Pass on thy way; thou leav'st a trace
 Of other sorrows here:
Have we no griefs for wasted time?
 Sighs for a mis-spent year?
Go! thou must now give place to one
 That hath not mark'd our care—
That cometh to restore to earth
 Its robe of beauty rare—

To soothe the troubles sent by thee—
 To calm the spirit wild—
To teach the task a cold world sets
 Adversity's wan child.
Some light and unwrung hearts may know
 But joy while thou art here;
And some may count the weary days
 By Sorrow's blighting tear.

Thou hast pass'd by to humble us
 By stern Affliction's hand—
To render desolate a place
 In many a household band;
Scattering misery around
 On some once smiling spot,
While thou art linking friends, whose names
 Were once remember'd not.

Go! the New Year will read to us
 A yet unopened page;
Perchance to sadden blooming youth—
 Perchance to lighten age.
'Tis meet that we should watch thee die
 With feelings kindly yet:
We know not that a future hour
 We would not fain forget.

Ah, it is therefore we should mark
 With fear thy form depart:
Time, in its changes, may but bring
 A changed and care-worn heart;
And, in remembrance of the smile,
 We should forget the tear:
Nor turn with slighting from the past
 To greet the coming year.
R. A.