Page:Poems Angier.djvu/119

OUR BIRTHDAYS.

Our birthdays! solemn birthdays,
 Time's sentinels they stand,
While each from out his watch-tower cries
 The foe is close at hand;
These mentors mark Death's onward march,
 Monition kindly given,
Life's mile-stones—may they record bear,
 We're one year nearer heaven.

What, though across our pilgrim-path,
 Dark clouds and shadows steal?
To Faith's keen eye these phantoms grim
 Bright angel forms reveal;
Care, pain, and grief, they Heaven-sent come,
 On faded brows to bind,
Celestial flowers of love and trust
 With Hope's sweet buds entwined.

Then sorrow not to see the years
 Go speeding on their way;
Ask not to check them in their flight,
 Nor bid a moment stay;