26
the marriage vow.
Speak it not lightly—though the young and gay
Are thronging round thee now with tones of mirth,
Let not the holy promise of to-day
Fade like the clouds that with the morn have birth,
But ever bright and sacred may it be,
Stored in the treasure-cell of memory.
Are thronging round thee now with tones of mirth,
Let not the holy promise of to-day
Fade like the clouds that with the morn have birth,
But ever bright and sacred may it be,
Stored in the treasure-cell of memory.
Life may not prove all sunshine—there will come
Dark hours for all: O will ye, when the night
Of sorrow gathers thickly round your home,
Love as ye did, in time when calm and bright
Seemed the sure path ye trod, untouched by care,
And deemed the future, like the present, fair?
Dark hours for all: O will ye, when the night
Of sorrow gathers thickly round your home,
Love as ye did, in time when calm and bright
Seemed the sure path ye trod, untouched by care,
And deemed the future, like the present, fair?
Eyes that now beam with health may yet grow dim,
And cheeks of rose forget their early glow;
Languor and pain assail each active limb,
And lay perchance some worshipped beauty low;
Then will ye gaze upon the altered brow,
And love as fondly, faithfully, as now?
And cheeks of rose forget their early glow;
Languor and pain assail each active limb,
And lay perchance some worshipped beauty low;
Then will ye gaze upon the altered brow,
And love as fondly, faithfully, as now?
