The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1877-12-06
CHE gighland gews.
HnIsBOROUGH. OHIO.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1877.
"ONE OF THE ROYs.e


Lower the curtains Jack, softly,
and light up the chandelier;
Stir up the fire, there, lightly
Now draw TO my bedside here.
pve something to say at parting,
The shadows are stealing nigh,
So bow your head while L Whisper
And list to me ere die.
Prop up the pillows Jack, gently
Then give me your hand in mine,
No chink of glittering glasses,
No flowing Of amber Wlnei
.I've got few words to say, lads
Bout the times we two have seen,
When, filling the crystal gOblets,
We drank TO women our queen.
All, many a night, old fellow,
As the time few swift along
We've flooded the air with laughter,
And filed the hours with song.
We've pledged our irlenus ana our s"eeJhearts
We've drank TO cur true loves eyes
To the blue, the black, and the hazel,
Till stars faded nom the skies.
We two have roamed home together
Full many morn, my lad,
Shouting the eChOing chorus
registering, reckless, and glad.
We've tasted ife's ssWeets tOgetheri
We've drank at its springs Of joy
But, Jack, the curtain is talllngI
Pm dying tonight, my boy
lived while lived for pleasure,
I filled my cur to the brlm,
Nor thought of the solemn shadows,
The speCters and phantOms grim
That waited beyond my vision,
That cluster around me now,
That touch with their sable piniOns
My aching and feTered brow.
Fer true to the ties thst bound us,
Old friend, you alone are here
OF all who Joined us in reVel
To watch mid the shadows drear.
Beyond gay voices are ringing
And eyes gleam joyous and bright;
Say, Jack, do they know Pm dying
Here in my chamber tonight?
As freely the red wine bubbles
And foams in the crystal glass,
Do they give a thought, wonder,
To me as the hours pass;
Do they think, mid sparkling bumpers
Of old Bourbon and old Rye,
That Pm lying in the shadow;
Do they toast me as die2
VII they miss me at the banquet,
Will they miss me, think YOU Jack2
Ani upon the old times faded
WilFther eyes look kindly back2
VIII they think of when we gathered
In the moonlight on the hills,
Drinking red wine and catawbaa
Careless thOUghtless Of life's ills?
All, veil, twas a ieeting pleasure,
The wine and the laughing eyes,
The hue, the black, and the hazel
Where the Turing lOve-lghts rise;
For you old chum, they are waiting
From me they have flown away,
The nights on the cleaning hilltops
Have gone from my life for aye!
pve ben thinking Jack, old fellow,
That ny days have gone to waste,
That M revels and CarOusings
Were the fruit Of pampered taste.
ThrOugl all the years that have faded
never have known a care,
And nov, as the death-glOOm gathers,
L cant remember prayer.
I've been nursing the hollow beauties,
I've cherished the heeting joys,
Ny life las been spent in seeking
A bliS that burdens and clogs.
Past hOLOrs seem strangely barren
OF god in my Clouded sight,
And, Jatk, the future looks misty
And dark as 1 die, tonight.
Remember, sometimes, old fellow,
Our friendship when l am dead,
When the bright-hUed birds Of summer
Sing sVeetly above my head.
You'll think Of our days together,
OF rOllcking times now past,
But, Jacl, don't " til" to their glamour,
The shadows fall round at last.
Prop up lhe pillows, Jack, gently,
Then give me your hand in mine,
No chink Of glittering glasses,
No flowing Of amber wine;
We've tasted ife's sweets together,
We've drank at its springs Of joy;
But, Jack, the curtain is falling,
Pm dying, tonight, my boy.