Maryland free press., 1866-12-27
TME CLOSING YEAR.
BY 6Es. d. PRENTICE.

IT'S m idnght's holy hour-and silence now
I, ,bresding, like gentle spirit, Ger
The still and pulselsss world. Hark! on the wins
The bells sweet tones are swelling; tits the knel
OF the departed year. Ne funeral train
Isswseping past; yet on the stream and wosd
With melancholy light, the moonbeams rest,
Lik. pale, spotless shroud the air is stirr'd,
Is by mournsr's sigh; and on yon cloud,
That floats SO still and placidly through Heaven;
The spirits Of the seasons seem to stand,
Young Spring, bright Summer, Autuma's solsm.
form,
And Winter with his aged locks, and breathe
In mournful cadcnces, that come abroad
Like the far wind-harps wild and touching wall
melancholy dirge DER the dead year,
Gone from the earth forever. 'Tis a tiHe
For mcnery and for tears. Within the deep,
Still chambers Of the heart, spectre dire,
Whose tspes are like the wizard voice of Time,
Heard frsm the tomb of ages points its cold
And solemn finger W the beautiful
And holy visions that have pass'l away
And left no shadow of their leveliness
On the dead waste of life. That spectre lifts
The cetIin-lid Of hope, and joy, and love,
And bending mournfully above the pale ..
OWeet ioi mo thht tnsTet ScatLerS dead
flowers
Der what passed to nothingness. The year
uas gone, and with it, many glorious throng
Ofhappy dreams. Its mark on each brow
Its shadow in cash heart In its swift course,
Itwaved its scsptre DER the beautiful
And they are not. 1t laid its palld hand
Upon the strong man, and the naughty form
Is fallen, and the flashing eye is dim,
Ittrod the hall Of revelry, where throng'd
The bright and Joyous, and the fearful wall
OF stricken ones is heard, where erst the song
And reckless shout ressunded. 1t passed Ger
The battle plain where swsrd and spear and shield
Flashed in the light of midday-and the strength
or serried hosts is shiver'd AID the grass,
Green from the soil of carnage, waves above
The crush'd and moulderng skeleton. 1t came
And faded like wreath Of mist at eve;
Yet, ere it melted in the viewless air,
Itheraldcd its millisns to their nome
In the dim land of dr. cams. Rcmorselcss Time
Fierce spirit Of the glass and scythe-what power
Can stay him in his silent course, or melt
His iron heart TO pity? On, still on
He presses, and forever. The proud bird,
The Condor of the Andes, that can soar
Through Heavens unfathsmabe depths, or brave
The fury Of the northern hurricane,
And bathe his plumage in the thunder's home
Pmls his wings at nghtfall, and sinks down
To rest upon his mountain crag,-but Time
Knows not the weight or sleep or WEAKNESS,
And nights deep darkness has no ch ain to bind
Ills rushing pinien. Revolutions sweep
Ger earth, like troubled visions Ger the heart
0fdreasing sorrow; cities rise and sink,
Like baLblcs on the water; fiery isles
Spring, blazing, from the ocean, AMI gs back
Ts thar m stcrieus caysrns; mountains rear
To Heaven their bald AMI blacken'd ellis. and bew
Their tall heads to tla plain new empires rise
Gathering the strength Of hoary centuries,
AMI rush down ike the Alpine avalanche,
Sa'tlimg til. nations; AMI the very stars,
Yon bright aud burning blazonry Of God.
Glitter awhile in their eternal depths;
And like the Plciad, lsvlicst of their train,
Sl.pt Elsm their glorious spheres, AMI pass away,
To darklc in the tiaokl-ss vojd;-yet Time
Time, ths tonlb-builder, holds his fierce career,
bark, stern, all pitiless, and passes not,
|. Amid the mighty wrecks that strew his path,
To sit and muse, like other conquerors,
Upon the fearful ruin he has wrought.
ss'------...-s-.
TAJES OF AN OT,D SEYTGN