<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN>
<h1 id="id00348" style="margin-top: 5em">DEPARTED DAYS</h1>
<p id="id00349">YES, dear departed, cherished days,<br/>
Could Memory's hand restore<br/>
Your morning light, your evening rays,<br/>
From Time's gray urn once more,<br/>
Then might this restless heart be still,<br/>
This straining eye might close,<br/>
And Hope her fainting pinions fold,<br/>
While the fair phantoms rose.<br/></p>
<p id="id00350">But, like a child in ocean's arms,<br/>
We strive against the stream,<br/>
Each moment farther from the shore<br/>
Where life's young fountains gleam;<br/>
Each moment fainter wave the fields,<br/>
And wider rolls the sea;<br/>
The mist grows dark,—the sun goes down,—<br/>
Day breaks,—and where are we?<br/></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />