Poems (Odom)/Only a Memory Now
LIFE'S CHANGES.
The sunlight shimmers on all below,
The violets breathe and the roses blow,
Bringing the beautiful long-ago
Back to my heart again.
The violets breathe and the roses blow,
Bringing the beautiful long-ago
Back to my heart again.
Where the lilies grew in the deepest shade,
And even the drooping rose-leaves made
A fragrant path where the angels strayed
To touch my soul with light.
And even the drooping rose-leaves made
A fragrant path where the angels strayed
To touch my soul with light.
I gayly sang my childish lays,
And blither still were my girlish days,
When friends stood by to smile and praise
Each word and deed of mine.
And blither still were my girlish days,
When friends stood by to smile and praise
Each word and deed of mine.
While Fortune from her chalice fair
Flung golden showers on the air—
And I was glad, for I thought despair
To me could never come.
Flung golden showers on the air—
And I was glad, for I thought despair
To me could never come.
My life was like some flowering vine,
That gaily danced in the bright sunshine,
As though the earth and its joys were mine—
Alas! how little I knew.
That gaily danced in the bright sunshine,
As though the earth and its joys were mine—
Alas! how little I knew.
But the golden sun went down at last,
And the bright blue sky was overcast—
Till even the timid stars have passed
In shivering fright away.
And the bright blue sky was overcast—
Till even the timid stars have passed
In shivering fright away.
Soon fickle Fortune fled the scene,
Cold darkness reigned where light had been,
And heavy clouds rose up between
My happy youth and me.
Cold darkness reigned where light had been,
And heavy clouds rose up between
My happy youth and me.
The leaves of womanhood unfold,
For me, without one tint of gold,
And age seems dreary, dark, and cold—
I scarce should dread the grave.
For me, without one tint of gold,
And age seems dreary, dark, and cold—
I scarce should dread the grave.
But for the light that never dies,
That glimmers still beyond the skies,
To guide the dead when they shall rise,
My soul would faint indeed.
That glimmers still beyond the skies,
To guide the dead when they shall rise,
My soul would faint indeed.
ONLY A MEMORY NOW.
Only the hush of a soft June night,
With a deep-blue sky and its starry light
That fell on the roses freshly bright—
Only a memory now.
With a deep-blue sky and its starry light
That fell on the roses freshly bright—
Only a memory now.
Only the violets blooming there,
Freighting the slumb'rous summer air,
Weaving the beauty the angels wear—
Only a memory now.
Freighting the slumb'rous summer air,
Weaving the beauty the angels wear—
Only a memory now.
Only a whispered word or two
From eager lips and the eyes of blue,
Looking so honest, brave, and true—
Only a memory now.
From eager lips and the eyes of blue,
Looking so honest, brave, and true—
Only a memory now.
Only a silent, sweet caress,
On a girlish brow and a waving tress,
The faintest sound of a whispered "Yes"—
Only a memory now.
On a girlish brow and a waving tress,
The faintest sound of a whispered "Yes"—
Only a memory now.
Only an hour of foolish bliss,
Of clasping hands, and a lover's kiss
That youth has known and life must miss—
Only a memory now.
Of clasping hands, and a lover's kiss
That youth has known and life must miss—
Only a memory now.
Only a pale dead love that lies,
With dumb, cold lips and sightless eyes,
Barring the gates of Paradise—
Only a memory now.
With dumb, cold lips and sightless eyes,
Barring the gates of Paradise—
Only a memory now.