With anthems glad from feathered choirs,
Bluebird and lark,
With five low notes the thrushes sing
Before the dark—
Bluebird and lark,
With five low notes the thrushes sing
Before the dark—
Thus came the year now dead and gone,
With color and with song
And the crystal promise of soul to soul
To do no wrong!
With color and with song
And the crystal promise of soul to soul
To do no wrong!
*******
How did you use the free-gift year,
Now but a wraith?
Did you hold its pledge of good in your heart
And keep the faith?
Now but a wraith?
Did you hold its pledge of good in your heart
And keep the faith?
How did you sepulchre this sweet year,
Gone back to God—
With a rose of love on its shriven breast,
Or only a clod?
Gone back to God—
With a rose of love on its shriven breast,
Or only a clod?
For records you leave with the vanished years
Will witness true
When out of the dusk the Master calls
The soul of you.
Will witness true
When out of the dusk the Master calls
The soul of you.
80
