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Memories
When fall the evening shadows,
long and deep, across the hill;
When all the air is fragrance,
and all the breezes still;
When the summer sun seems pausing
above the mountain's brow,
As if he left reluctantly
a scene so lovely now;
Then I linger on the pathway,
and I fondly gaze, and long,
As if reading some old story
those deep purple clouds among;
Then Memory approaches,
holding up her magic glass,
Pointing to familiar figures,
which across the surface pass.
And often do I question,
As I view that phantom train,
Whether most with joy or sadness
I behold them thus again.
They are there, those scenes of beauty,
Where life's brightest hours have fled,
And I haste, with dear companions,
The old paths again to tread;
But, suddenly dissolving,
All the loviness is flown,
And I find a thorny wilderness,
Where I must walk alone.
Thou art there, so loved and honored,
as in each former hour,
When we read thine eyes deep meaning,
When we heard thy words of power;
When Our souls, as willing captives,
Have sought to follow thine,
Tracing the eternal footsteps
Of Might and love divine.
But o'er that cherished image
Falls a veil of clouds and gloom,
And beside a bier I tremble,
Or I weep above a tomb.
And ever will the question come,
O Memory! again,
Whether in thy magic mirror
There is most of bliss or pain?
Would I not wish the brightness
Were for ever hid from view,
If but those hours of darkness
Could be all forgotten too?
Then, weary and desponding,
My spirit seeks to rise
Away from earthly conflicts,
From mortal smiles or sighs.
I do not think the blessed ones
With Jesus have forgot
The changing joys and sorrows which
Have marked their earthly lot;
But now, on Memory's record
Theit eyes can calmly dwell;
They can see, what here they trusted
God hath done all things well;
And vain regrets and longings
Are as old things passed away;
No shadows dim the sunshine
Of that bright eternal day!
Author Unknown
"It is wonderful to know that our good is at hand." -- Ernest Holmes
The earth is presently inhabited by 1.4 million species of animals and 500,000 species of plants.
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