Ghost-like I paced round the haunts of my child hood; Earth seem'd a desert I was bound to traverse, Seeking to find the old familiar faces. Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother, Why wert not thou born in my father's dwelling? So might we talk of the old familiar faces How some they have died, and some they have left me, And some are taken from me; all are departed, All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. CHARLES LAMB. I remember, I remember, The fir trees dark and high; To know I'm farther off from heaven Than when I was a boy. THOMAS HOOD. OFT, IN THE STILLY NIGHT. OFT, in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain has bound me, Of boyhood's years, The words of love then spoken; The eyes that shone, Now dimm'd and gone, The cheerful hearts now broken ! Thus, in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. When I remember all The friends, so link'd together, I've seen around me fall, Like leaves in wintry weather: I feel like one, Who treads alone Some banquet-hall deserted, Whose lights are fled, Ere Slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. THOMAS MOORE. FAREWELL! BUT WHENEVER YOU WELCOME THE HOUR. FAREWELL! but whenever you welcome the hour That awakens the night-song of mirth in your bower, Then think of the friend who once welcomed it too, But he ne'er will forget the short vision that threw you! And still on that evening, when pleasure fills up |