Classic Poem

ON THEIR MARRIAGE .

Hand in hand ye twain must go
Through the shadow and the glow,
By a pathway none may know.

Pluck the roses by the way,
Hoard their fragrance while ye may;
Summer will not always stay.

Autumn follows, sure and fast,
With its bitter frost and blast,
Spoiling where the summer passed.

Winter, too, with icy feet,
Comes to shroud the fair and sweet,
In his snow-cold winding-sheet.

Walk together down the years,
Sharing all your hopes and fears,
Joys and sorrows, smiles and tears.

Naught can break the links that bind
Heart to heart and mind to mind
In the duty God assigned.

Toil and care may sear and blight;
Age may bleach your tresses white;
Love will keep your hearthstone bright.

Walk together, hand in hand;
There are lions in the land,
That your strength can scarce withstand.

Ye will meet them, day and night,
In the darkness, in the light:
Keep your weapons always bright.

Love that lives through deartHand gloom,
Giving out its sweet perfume
By the deathbed, at the tomb,

Like a flower by wind and rain
Broken, scattered on the plain,
Dead, will never live again.

Guard your treasure by the way;
Name it in the prayers ye pray;
Nurse it by the words ye say.

By life's losses and its gain,
By its pleasure and its pain,
Charm the charmer to remain.

By the happiness men prize,
By remorse that never dies,
Guard your own fair paradise.

Whatsoe'er ye lose or win,
Let no serpent, born of sin,
Leave a trail or trace therein.

Let no harsh or hasty word
In its blooming bowers be heard,
To frighten thence its singing bird.

Let no summer storm arise
In the brightness of its skies
To dim the light of loving eyes.