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IN TWENTY YEARS.
In twenty years, ah! twenty years—
Be calm, be brave, bid back thy tears,
These cankering cares, corroding fears,
Will cease to vex in twenty years;
In twenty years, ah! twenty years,
In less, perhaps, than twenty years.

Where are the bitter grief and woe
That thine were in the long ago?
Their memory dim and vague appears,
'Twill dimmer seem in twenty years:
In twenty years, ah! twenty years,
In less, perhaps, than twenty years.

The tongue that stung with venomed word,
No more in hate or love is stirred;
And hands that once aimed poisoned dart
May powerless lie on pulseless heart,
In twenty years, ah! twenty years,
In less, perhaps, than twenty years.