Classic Poem

A SONG .

As the twilight shadows gather
And the earth in slumber lies,
I gaze into memory's mirror
With eager, longing eyes,
And I see the vanished faces
Come trooping back again,
And a throb of joy is blended
With a touch of softened pain.

REFRAIN .

Shadows of gladness, shadows of care,
Visions of beauty wondrously fair,
Glimpses of moments golden and bright,
Shadows of sadness, shadows of night.

From the mist there comes the vision
Of a little dimpled face,
And my tears fall soft, like dew-drops,
As the memory I embrace:
I hear the tender echoes
Of a baby's voice again,
And his breath falls like a zephyr
As it kisses summer rain.

And now I see in the mirror
A form I loved too well,
Of a maiden who in spring-time
Had bound me with a spell.
When the winter winds blew coldly
She join'd the angel band,
Yet her spirit comes to cheer me
From the distant shadow-land.

O! the precious twilight shadows
Of the days of long ago;
We would linger with thy visions,
But on vapour-clouds they go!
When our soulless dust is wafted
O'er the earth where now we stand,
Shall we dwell with those who wander
In the mystic shadow-land?