Poems of Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Heath’s Book of Beauty, 1833/Song - Our early years

by Letitia Elizabeth Landon

SONG.

Our early years—our early years,
    Recall them not again;
The memory of former joy,
    The pang of former pain.

Where is our childhood? Where are they
    The playmates of the heart,
Whose first sweet lesson was to love,
    Whose second was to part?

The Dead are with the past; for them
    How fruitless our despair!
Unkindness, anger, fondness, grief,
    Alike are buried there.

Alas! such thoughts can only weep
    The heart's most bitter rain:
Our early years—our early years,
    Recall them not again.