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THE ANGELS OF LIFE.
I.
Prostrate beside the rock-bound shores of time,
Alone, storm-tossed and harbourless, I wept—
I wept o'er all the buried wrecks sublime
Which in its flood irrevocably slept.
Alone, storm-tossed and harbourless, I wept—
I wept o'er all the buried wrecks sublime
Which in its flood irrevocably slept.
II.
I heard the footsteps of the bygone years,
As slow they passed with chill, relentless eyes,
And with a shuddering awe, amid my tears,
The gift each bore away could recognise.
As slow they passed with chill, relentless eyes,
And with a shuddering awe, amid my tears,
The gift each bore away could recognise.
III.
Said one—"I bore thy bloom of health away,
I kissed its rose with breath all icy cold;
Child of the sun! without its fostering ray,
Thy being could not ripen nor unfold.
I kissed its rose with breath all icy cold;
Child of the sun! without its fostering ray,
Thy being could not ripen nor unfold.
