RETROSPECT.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 26, 27 June 1891, Page 99

RETROSPECT.

We sit and dream a moment by the wayside, To rest our tired hands and aching feet ; The road of life is rough, our burdens hurt us. Our hearts are weary with the fret and heat. Then Memory with its cool, refreshing fingers, Touches our feverish hands ; our troubles cease Back we are led through paths of dewy flowers To that long-vanished Past, where all is peace. In those fair days when life seemed ever spinning An endiess cloth of gold for us to tread, We moved along with joyous step untiring, By noble thoughts and aims our feet were led. Ere yet Ambition set our-tedious lesson, Or worldly cares had left their traces clear, Before the days when falsehood and derision Had warped our hearts in anger, hate, and fear. We loved with hearts that knew not doubt or anguish, Nor dreamed that those we loved should ere betray ; We trusted all who clasped our hands in friendship, Our idols had not turned to things of clay. Gone with our youth the dear, bright smiling faces, The eyes that met in mutual love our own, And silent now the sweet and merry voices That laughed and sang with us in joyous tone. Beyond recall, and yet their sweetness lingers In memory, like the violets subtle scent, Reviving us with gentle wafts of fragrance In moments when our strength of heart is spent. Then up again, and lift the daily burden, To join the throng of eager human kind ; We must keep step with others marching forward ; It. is not well with those that lag behind.

Tassa.