SELECT. POETRY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 174, 8 June 1871, Page 7

SELECT. POETRY.

THE WEDDING RING. Only a well-worn hoop of gold, Unlit by any glow Of rainbow gem, a ling that told Its story long ago. Only a circlet dhnm'd and thin With wedded years of life, Whose memories cloud my soul within With sorrow-shaded strife. Only a cincture clasping fast Two separate lives in one, That calls to mind the sunny Past, Yet leaves me still alone. Only a relic of the joy, In days no more to be, Of thoughts Regret alone can cloy, Never again for me. Only a treasure from the hand No more to rest in mine, But pass'd into the voiceless land, Beyond the hills divine. Only a pledge of mutual love, Of love that ne'er shall fade, Though death has called those lips above That sacred plightings made. Only an earnest of the troth Nor Time nor aught can bend, But ever still will bind us both Unwavering to the end. Small as the circlet is it bound All close her love to mine, Now she is gone but steadfast round My soul its pledges twine. Never again its gold shall thread Her yielding finger's snow ; Never — not c'en when graves their dead Have loosed from sleep below. Never again ! But as one thought, In realms of perfect peace, Our hearts shall beat, with rapture fraught, "When JDeatli gives me release.