THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX, AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

R

But, like the skeleton at the feast,
That warning timepiece never ceased,-
"Forever never!

Never-forever!"

There groups of merry children played;
There youths and maidens dreaming strayed;
Oh, precious hours! oh, golden prime
And affluence of love and time!

Even as a miser counts his gold,

Those hours the ancient timepiece told,

"Forever never!

Never forever!"

From that chamber, clothed in white,
The bride came forth on her wedding night;
There, in that silent room below,

The dead lay, in his shroud of snow;

And, in the hush that followed the prayer,
Was heard the old clock on the stair,

"Forever-never!

Never-forever!"