Classic Poem

Another , — yes, another, —
We are passing, one by one,
Like soldiers, fallen in battle,
Be the conflict lost or won
Another, — yes, another,
Like an evening star, has set;
Behind the western mountains
The light is lingering yet.

Another, — yes, another, —
The friends of earlier days,
As melt the mists of morning
Amid the noonday haze,
Life's golden harvests, gathered,
Pass on to other spheres;
Life's early promise kindled
Light round their riper years.

Another, — yes, another, —
As ever on the lake
Wave follows wave, and shoreward
Successive billows break;
Grand in the storm, but fairest
When, all the conflict o'er,
In gentle ripples moving,
They lave the silent shore.

Another, — yes, another,
Torn from the golden chain,
Crowned, after life's stern conflict,
Another warrior slain;
With closer ranks, his valor
Shall help us dare and do;
Shorter the chain, but stronger, —
We 'll weld the parts anew.

Another, — yes, another, —
We drop like forest leaves,
When the year's crown of glory
The mellow autumn weaves;
But lives of love and duty
Sink to no vain repose;
Sunsets shed lingering radiance,
Fragrance, the dying rose.

Another, — yes, another, —
The calls more frequent grow,
As whitens round our temples
More thick the silver snow;
God of the weak and weary,
Light of our joyful past,
Guide us, support and keep us,
Till falls in death the last!