Classic Poem

Good-Night! good night!—those few kind words are all
That mark our partings now. … It was not so
In times gone by— Why cannot I recall
Those days with all their bliss and all their woe?

Unmarked—unhidden then, our hopes our fears,
Were freely interchanged alone for hours;
We hid not from each other smiles or tears
But the heart's sunshine mingled with its showers!

Now frosty welcomes usher in the morn,
And formal partings close the lingering day
Beneath the World's keen glance like bondsmen born
We toil through hateful tasks, as best we may.

I murmur not! … I know thy lofty soul
Spurns like my own this yoke—this servile chain,
No! the World's minions let the World control,
We only fear to give each other pain!

Good Night! good night then! … on thy gentle lids
Light sweet repose, and as thou sink'st to rest
Dream it is he—thy friend—thy brother bids
Good-night!—and whispers[,“Be] thy slumbers blest!”